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iEADY BEFERENGE. 






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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERIOA. 




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THE FARMER'S READY REFERENCE; 



OR 



HAND = BOOK 



OF 



Diseases of Horses and Catde. 



A SHORT AND PLAIN DESCRIPTION OF THE ORDINAKY 
DISEASES OF HORSES AND CATTLE, WITH SIM- 
PLE, PRACTICAL RULES FOR THEHv 
CARE AND TREATMENTS^ 



By S. C. ORR, V. S 

GRADUATE OF THE ONTARIO VETERINARY COLLEGE, OF 
TORONTO, CANADA ; VETERINARY EDITOR TO KAN- 
SAS FARMER, TOPEKA, KANSAS : HOME. FIELD 

AND FORUM, GUTHRIE, OKLA ; AMERI- / 

CAN FARMER AND FARM NEWS, 

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. ^ |-^ '^L 



'• ^fO'i^'^' 



PUBLISHED BY 

S_ C_ ORR^ V_ S_. 

Manhattan, Kansas. 

1894. 



Copyrighted, 1894, by S. C. ORR, V. S. 
(All Rights Reserved.) 



Parties desiring to confer with the author will find full 
directions in business card in back part of this book. 



r^ 



V '' 



manhattan, kansas: 
Mercury Publishing House. 



To THE FaIIJIERS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS, AS A TOKEN 

OF Appreciation of Their Efforts Toward the 
Improvement of Live Stock, is This Work Re- 
spectfully Dedicated by 

THE AUTHOR. 



AUTHOR'S F^REKACK. 



In preparing this little volume, the aim. has been to make it 
just what its title implies, namely, a ready reference. The 
average farmer, with the many cares of agricultural life upon 
his mind, has no time to read elaborate works upon the scientific 
treatment of disease and store away knowledge for future use in 
the case of an emergency, as does the practitioner who has had 
the advantage of a collegiate course in veterinary science, but, 
on the contrary, he needs something to which he can refer with 
the shortest possible delay in the immediate time of need. With 
this in mind, the object has been to avoid everything that savored 
only of unproven theory ; to make use of no mystifying tech- 
nicalities; but to set forth every detail in as plain and concise a 
manner as possible. 

While it is always advisable to place the treatment of sick or 
lame animals in the hands of a qualified veterinarian when it is 
possible to do so, yet it must be admitted that many farmers 
living in remote localities find it impossible to call such an indi- 
vidual in time to save an animal's life ; to these especially, is 
this work recommended. 

No great claim to originality is made ; but with a knowledge 
gained from the works of Professors Williams, Fleming. Steele, 
Smith, Salmon, Baker, Liautard and others, together with a 
collection of ideas gathered from an extensive and varied 
practice, I have endeavored to select and compile a compend of 
methods of treatment and remedies, such as the stock owner or 
farmer can readily understand and apply with the conveniences 
at hand, and with the best chance of success. 

With the hope that this little book may meet with the kind 
approbation of those for whom it is intended, it is launched 

upon its journey for better or for worse. 

THE AUTHOR. 



PART KIRST. 



Diseases ol tk Horse, 

THEIR CAUSES: 

THEIR SYMPTOMS; 

THEIR TREATMENT. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In order to facilitate the understanding and carrying-out of 
the instructions given in the succeeding pages, a few hints are 
necessarj^ upon the recognition of disease, the nursing of pa- 
tients, and the administering of medicines. 

How to Recognize Disease. 

Before anyone can readily recognize the symptoms of disease 
it is first necessary to beconie thoroughly acquai:ited with the 
habits, actions, and general appearance of our domesticated 
animals in a state of health. It is not necessary that a horse 
should be loaded with fat to be healthy ; but there is a sleek, 
thrifty appearance of the coat ; a clear, bright look of the eye ; 
a strong, elastic step, and a good and regular appetite, all of 
which are indications of a healthy condition; while, on the 
other hand, a rough, staring coat, a dull, listless eye, a sluggish, 
tottering gait, a poor or irregular appetite, are all signs, either 
of disease of the animal or of bad management on the part of the 
attendant, and demand an investigation at once as to the cause. 
The pulse, which may be found at the angle of the lower jaw 
where the artery passes to the outside of the jawbone, is an indi- 
cator of the condition of the animal's health. The normal beat 
of the pulse is from thirty-six to forty per minute ; anything 
above forty is indicative of fever. The respirations, also, should 
be taken into consideration. When the animal is in health and 
free from excitement, the number of respirations per minute are 



12 THE FAEMEr's ready REFERENCE. 

from ten to fifteen : anything beyond fifteen being a deviation 
from the normal. The temperature is ascertained by inserting 
a clinical thermometer into the rectum for two or three minutes. 
The normal temperature of the horse is 98.5 degrees Fahrenheit. 
A degree above the normal is not generally looked upon as any- 
thing serious ; but a rise of several degrees is a sure sign of a 
fevered condition of the system. 

Nursing and Feeding. 

A good nurse is of as much importance as a good doctor. A 
careless or indifferent person should never be intrusted with the 
care of sick animals There should always be plenty of fresh, 
pure air, but all drafts or currents should be avoided. The 
patient should always be clothed according to the condition of 
the weather. In very cold weather a woolen blanket is best ; 
but in moderate weather a cotton covering is more comfortable ; 
and in very warm weather a thin sheet should be used to keep off 
the flies. The stall should be kept clean and free from filth. 
There can be no fixed rule laid down for feeding. Some horses, 
like some people, when sick seem to have peculiar whims in 
regard to their food that only the most careful and judicious 
nurse knows how to gratify. All food should be clean and easy 
of digestion. Cooked food is best, but some animals will not 
eat it. Feed whatever of the grains an animal will eat best and 
give it wet or dry as seems best to suit the taste. Give green 
grass when obtainable ; at other times give clean, sweet, well- 
cured hay. Food of all kinds should be given in small quan- 
tities, and often. As a general rule, water can be given freely. 
A good plan is to keep a pail of cool water where the patient can 
go to it at will. A horse with a fever will go to the bucket and 
rinse out and cool his mouth when he does not want to drink. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 13 

Administering fledicines. 

Always first determine what the disease is, then select the 
remedy best suited or recommended for that disease. When a 
selection is once made give the prescribed dose and then wait a 
sufficient length of time for the result, and do not get impatient 
and repeat the same or give something else that some dis- 
interested bystander recommends as a ''sure cure." Many 
horses are killed every year by over-dosing that, if left alone, 
would have gotten well without any treatment. Medicines are 
always most conveniently given in the food or drink, when it 
can be done ; but some drugs have such a disagreeable odor or 
taste that no horse will take them in this way. Some medicines, 
as aloes, are best made into a ball and placed well back on the 
tongue. Powders can be put into a large spoon and placed well 
back on the tongue, and the head held up until the medicine 
becomes mixed with saliva. But as the most common way of 
giving medicine is by drenching, we will describe the best plan 
of performing that operation: First, always drench through the 
mouth, and not through the nose. Second, do not pull the 
horse's head up with the halter, but take a rope ten or more feet 
long ; tie a loop a foot long in one end ; now pass this loop down 
inside of the nose-piece of the halter and place it in the animal's 
mouth ; now" throw the other end over a beam, or a limb of a 
tree, and pull on it till the head is as high as you want it ; now, 
while an assistant holds this rope, you can open the side of the 
mouth with one hand, while with the other you insert the neck 
of the bottle or drenching horn and pour the medicine in, a little 
at a time, to avoid choking the horse. This holds the head up 
by the upper jaw, while the lower jaw is left free to work up 
and down and work the medicine back. The tongue should 
never be pulled out or held by the hand, as it does no good and 
increases the danger of choking. All medicines to be given 



14 



THE FARMER S READY REFERENCE. 



in drenches should be well diluted and, if of an irritating nature, 
they can be more safely given in raw linseed oil, sweet milk, or 
gruel of some kind. The dose should also vary to suit the con- 
dition and temperament of the animal. An old and debilitated 
patient, or one with a highly-nervous temperament, will require 
a smaller dose than one in fair flesh or with a sluggish tempera- 
ment. The doses, as given in this work, unless otherwise stated, 
are always intended for grown animals. By observing the fol- 
lowing table the dose for any age may be easily ascertained : 
Doses, Graduation Of. 



Horse. 


Ox. 


Dose. 


S or more years . . . 
2 vears 


2 or more years . 

lYz years 

1 year 

6 months 

1 month 


1 part 
>2 part 
34 part 
38 part 
1-16 part 


1 year 

6 months 


1 month 





Measuring Doses. 

As facilities are not always at hand for accurate weight or 

measurement of doses, an approximate measure may be attained 

by the following table : 

Liquids— 

A teaspoonful equals 1 fluid drachm; 

A tablespoonfui equals half a tluid ounce. 
Roots or Barks, Powdered— 

A teaspoonful equals two-thirds of a drachm; 

H tablespoonfuls equal half an ounce. 
Powdered Herbs— 

3 teaspoonfuls equal 1 drachm; 

3 tablespoonfuls equal half an ounce. 
Salt, Saltpetre, Sulphur, Etc — 

A teaspoonful equals 1 drachm. 
Sugar of Lead, Sulphate of Zinc, Etc.— 

A teaspoonful equals H drachms. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 15 

Care of Medicines. 

Liquids should be kept in bottles tightly corked. Towders 
also retain their virtues longer if kept in wide-mouthed bottles, 
well corked from the air. Each bottle, box, or package should 
be properly and plainly labeled, to prevent mistakes. All ves 
sels in which medicines are mixed should be kept scrupulously 
clean. Medicines allowed to stand in tin or other metallic 
vessels not only lose their curative qualities, but sometimes 
become positively injurious. 

Medicines— How to Mix Them. 

Wherever a medicine is recommended throughout this work 
without giving its mode of preparation, tlie formula, with full 
directions, will be found under this heading. Tiie dose given 
here is always for grown animals ; the dose for younger animals 
can be ascertained from the table on. Doses. Graduation of 

Physic for Horses. 

Barbadoes aloes ; dose, 1 ouice. The powdered aloes may 
he mixed into a ball with oil or glycerine, or they may be dis- 
solved in a pint of warm water and given as a drench. 

Raw linseed oil is sometimes usel. Dose, 1 pint to a quait. 

Physic for Cattle. 

Epsom salt is used, because of its prompt action. Dose. 
1 to 2 pounds. Dissolve the salts in half a gallon or more of 
warm water, and give as a drench. 

As a mild physic, raw linseed oil may be given in doses of 
from 1 to 2 quarts. 

Melted lard may be used in the same quantities 
Ammoniacal Liniment. 

Oil, raw linseed or olive; turpentine and aqua ammonia, 
equal parts, mixed. To blister, rub in well three times a day. 



16 THE FAEMER's ready REFERENCE. 

White Lotion (Healing). 

Sugar of lead, 1 ounce ; sulphate of zinc, 6 drachms ; carbolic 
acid, 2 drachms ; rain water, 1 quart. Apply to the wound two 
or three times a day with a syringe or a soft sponge. 

Biniodide of Mercury Blister. 

Biniodide of mercury, 1 drachm ; lard or vaseline, 1 ounce. 

Mix w^ell together with a spatula. Rub in a small quantity 

with the hand for fifteen minutes ; tie the horse's head up for 

twenty-four hours, then grease the blister and turn the horse 

loose. 

Cantharidine Blister. 

Powdered cantliarides, 1 drachm ; lard or vaseline, 1 ounce. 
Mix and keep hot for one hour, but do not burn. Apply same as 
the biniodide of mercurv. 



RESPIRATORY DISEASES. 



Distemper. 

This is a common term used by the farmer or ordinary horse- 
man for any or all diseases in which there is a discharge irom 
the nostrils, sore tliroat, and difficulty in breathing. But as 
these diseases require treatment, according to the organs affected, 
each one will be treated separately. 

Catarrh. 

Catarrh, or common cold, is simply a congested or inflamed 
condition of the mucous membrane lining the nasal chambers 
and other cavities of the head. 

Causes.— Cold, damp stable ; standing in a draft of air ; 
driving against a cold wind ; standing without blanketing after 
rapid driving. 

Symptoms. — Dullness ; discharge from the nostrils, proba- 
bly thin at first, but growing thicker; sometimes constipation, 
and scant, high-colored urine. 

Treatment.— Place the patient in a well ventilated stable, 
and blanket if the weather is cold. Feed moderately on bran or 
oats and hay, and keep a pail of clean water where he can drink 
at will. Give from one to two drachms of nitrate of potash 
three times a day, either in the feed, water, or on the tongue. 
Strangles, or Colt Distemper. 

This disease is often called colt distemper because colts 
rarely ever escape it, very few horses reaching the age of five 



18 THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 

years without an attack. There are two forms of this disease: 
the regular, and the irregular or malignant form. The name, 
strangles, originateii from the difficulty in breathing. The 
regular form generally runs its course in from ten to fifteen 
days, while the irregular form may last as many weeks. This 
disease may occur at any season of the year, but is generally 
most severe during the spring months. 

Symptoms.— In the regular form the symptoms are some- 
what similar to those of catarrh. There is dullness; discharge 
from the nostrils, pulse and breathing slightly quickened and a 
rise of two or three degrees in temperature. There is also swell- 
ing of the throat and of the glands underneath the jaws. In 
the irregular form the fever often runs very high ; abscesses 
form on different parts of the body, and may form on the inside, 
where they generally prove fatal. As the disease progresses 
the legs swell ; the appetite fails ; great prostration follows, 
often resulting in death. 

Treatment.— Ill the mild form, blanket aud stable the 
animal according to the season; feed on nutritious, laxative 
diet, and give, three times a day, a heaping teaspoonful of the 
following : Powdered gentian loot and nitrate of potash, of each 
equal parts, mixed. If the throat is tender, rub in three times a 
day till sore, a little of the following : Raw linseed oil, turpen- 
tine, and aqua ammonia, of each equal parts, mixed. When 
abscesses form they should be opened and syringed out once or 
twice a day with carbolic acid, two teaspoonfuls and water one 
pint. If the symptoms become more severe, running on toward 
the irregular form, stimulants and tonics will be necessary. 
Nitrous ether, from 1 to 2 ounces, and quinine, 20 grains, should 
be given three or four times a day. The discharge from the 
nostrils, in either form, can be greatly facilitated by steaming 



THE FARMEE's ready REFERENCE. 19 

over a pail of hot water into which has been put a tablespoon ful 
of turpentine to the gallon of water. If the swelling in the 
throat should become so severe as to threaten strangulation, the 
only hope will be in tracheotomy, and as this will require the 
services of a veterinarian we will not describe the operation. 

Influenza or Pinkeye. 

This is a special form of catarrhal influenza, known by the 
various names of influenza, pinkeye, epizootic, epizootic cellu- 
litis, etc. This, like the other distempers, seems to be contagious, 
( ither by direct contact or by the infection carried in the atmos- 
phere. 

Symptoms.— Dullness ; loss of appetite, a short cough, a 
dry, hot mouth, eyes somewhat inflamed and watery ,*ears and 
legs cold, pulse rapid but weak, and the throat sometimes 
swollen and tender to the touch. If the disease runs for some 
time without treatment it often becomes complicated with 
pneumonia, rheumatism, or some other disease ; it then becomes 
more serious and must be treated according to the instructions 
given elsewhere for the treatment of such diseases. 

Treatment.— First of all the animal should be placed in a 
clean, well-ventilated box stall, and clothed according to the 
weather. The food should consist of bran mash, boiled oats, 
and any other laxative, digestible food the animal will eat. A 
little sweet hay should always be within reach ; also a pail of 
clean, fresh water. As there is great danger of strangulation in 
drenching, because of sore throat, all medicines should be given 
either in the water or by placing it on the tongue. A drachm 
of nitrate of potash should be given three times a day in the first 
stages of the disease ; but if the patient becomes much debilitated 
the potash should be discontinued. From a half to one ounce of 
sulphite of soda should be dissolved in the drinking water during 



20 THE farmer's ready reference. 

each twenty-four hours. If there is much weakness an ounce of 
spirits of nitre should be diluted and given with a syringe three 
times a day; and, if there is much difficulty in breathing, half an 
ounce of fluid extract of lobelia may be added to each dose. 
The throat should be rubbed several times a day with turpen- 
tine, oil, and ammonia, in equal parts, until the skin gets sore. 
The legs should be well rubbed with the hands or wisps of hay, 
then bandaged. The treatment should continue until the horse 

is entirely well. 

Laryngitis. 

Laryngitis simply signifies sore throat or inflammation of 
the larynx. 

Causes.— Exposure to cold ; standing in a stable vi^here a 
current of cold air passes ; driving rapidly against the wind, etc. 

Symptoms.— The first s} mptoms noticed generally are dull- 
ness, slight swelling of the throat and soreness upon pressure. 
There will be difficulty in swallowing, and when attempting to 
drink the water will run out of the nostrils. The mouth will be 
dry and hot, the pulse very quick in severe cases, and there will 
be a discharge from«mouth and nostrils both ; the discharge will 
be colored from the food the animal has been eating, sometimes 
leading to the mistaken idea of glanders. The breathing will be 
loud and difficult, and in very severe cases there is danger of 
choking. 

Treatment. — Put the animal in a box stall and give plenty 
of pure air. Mix equal parts of powdered chlorate of potash and 
licorice root and place a heaping teaspoonful well back on the 
tongue three or four times a day, after first rinsing the mouth 
with cool water. Mix equal parts of turpentine, raw linseed oil, 
and ammonia and apply to the throat every two hours until the 
skin becomes lender. If the breathing is very difficult, inject, 
with a small syringe, a half ounce of fluid extract of lobelia well 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 21 

back on the tongue once every two hours till relieved. Do not 
attempt to drench or you will strangle the animal. Keep a pail 
of clean, cool water where the patient can get to it, and feed on 
bran mash and a little fine hay. 

Bronchitis. 

Inflammation of the bronchial tubes may follow any of the 
other respiratory diseases, or it may come on as a primary disease. 

Causes.— The exciting causes are the same as in other 
catarrhal diseases. The inhalation of smoke, also, will cause it, 
as in the pernicious habit some people have of smoking with old 
rags, leather, feathers, etc., for distemper. 

Symptoms.— A dryness of the throat and a rasping sound in 
the breathing; soreness of the chest just above the breast bone 
when pressed with the hand ; a gurgling, snoring sound heard by 
placing the ear against th6 windpipe. Sometimes a soft, deep, 
subdued cough accompanied by great pain. Pulse and tempera- 
ture both run high. 

Treatment.— Give one drachm of nitrate of potash on the 

tongue three or four times a day, and rub tbe chest in front and 

on the sides with the ammoniacal liniment, as recommended in 

laryngitis and other affections of the throat. If the breathing 

is very difficult and painful, throw back on the tongue, with a 

syringe, half an ounce of laudanum or fluid extract of lobelia 

every two hours until relief is obtained. If the patient is very 

weak give an ounce of spirits of nitre in the drinking water three 

times a day. 

Nasal Gleet. 

This is a chronic discharge from one or both nostrils. It 
may be the result of a neglected case of strangles or it may come 
from some injury to the bones of the head. Sometimes a decay- 
ing tooth will cause it. 



22 THE farmer's ready reference. 

SYMPT03IS. — A whitish or yellowish discharge from one or 
both nostrils, but does not adhere and close up the nostrils like 
that of glanders. If there is a very bad odor it is the result of 
diseased bone or decayed teeth. The teeth should always be 
examined. An enlargement can sometimes be seen on the out- 
side of the bones. 

Treatment.— If the discharge comes from a diseased tooth, 
the tooth must be removed by trephining, an operation which 
requires the skill of a surgeon. But, if the discharge is only due 
to an inflammation of the membrane lining the nasal chamber, 
it may sometimes be dried up by giving two drachms of sulphate 
of copper and five grains of powdered cantharides twice a day^ 
and blistering the out side of the nasal bones with biniodide of 
mercury, one drachm, and lard, one ounce. Feed the animal 
well to build up the system. 

Heaves or Broken Wind. 

This disease may follow any of the distempers. It also 
comes from feeding on mouldy or dusty hay. 

Treatment.— When this disease is of long standing it is 
incurable. A teaspoonful of pine tar placed well back on the 
tongue two or three times a day will sometimes relieve it. All 
hay and grain should be moistened with lime water, and hay 
should be given in small quantities, taking care not to have the 
animal too full on first starting out to work. 

EpistaxLs or Nasal Bleeding. 

Sometimes this comes from an injury or from violent ex- 
ertion. 

Treatment.— Bathe the head and face with cold water, and 
let a stream of cold water fall two or three feet and strike the 
loins. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 23 

Congestion of the Lungs. 

This is stagnation of blood in the lungs and is always the 
forerunner of inflammation, which can often be prevented if 
treated early. 

Causes.— Driving against a cold wind ; rapid driving when 
in a debilitated condition, especially when just recovering from 
any of the distempers ; standing in a cold current in the stable, 
or standing out without a blanket after driving often produces it. 

Symptoms.— The horse becomes sluggish, stops, stands with 
his fore feet spread apart ; stretches his head forward and gasps 
for breath ; his nostrils flap ; his flanks heave and he often 
seems about to suffocate ; the eyes have an anxious look ; the 
body shivers as with ague, and cold sweat breaks out all over it. 

TREAT3IEXT.— Treatment must be prompt. Remove all 
pressure upon the chest or throat from harness or saddle ; 
blanket the body ; give plenty of fresh air, and cold water in 
small quantities, but often; rub the body dry with wisps of hay 
and cloths ; give from one to two ounces of spirits of nitre and 
one-half to one ounce of laudanum or fluid extract of lobelia in 
half pint of water. This should be given at once and repeated 
in one hour if the symptoms do not abate. It is best given with 
syringe. After the distressing symptoms have been relieved the 
animal should have two drachms of nitrate of potash and one 
drachm of sulphate of cinchonida every four hours for at least 
twenty-four hours. This may serve to ward off inflammation of 
the lungs. 

Pneumonia or Inflammation of the Lungs. 

This is inflammation of the lung substance proper. 
Causes.— Same as in congestion. 

Symptoms*— The horse stands with head down and ears 
generally drooping; breathes short and quick and the mouth is 



24 THE farmer's ready reference. 

dry and hot. The pulse, in the beginning, is quick and strong; 
but grows weak as the disease progresses. If the ear is held 
against the side a rasping sound is heard like two pieces of dry 
leather rubbing togetlier. The horse will not lie down but re- 
mains in a standing posture. The temperature may run up as 
high as 106 degrees and yet not prove fatal. 

Treatment.— The horse should be turned loose at once in 
a box stall and blanketed according to the season. He must 
have plenty of fresh air, but a current of air must not strike 
him. If the pulse is full and strong give him ten drops of tinc- 
ture of aconite every two hours until the pulse begins to decrease 
in power and frequency, but it must not be continued after the 
pulse becomes weak. The aconite should be diluted and given 
on the tongue with a syringe. If the animal is weak and the 
pulse low an ounce of spirits of nitre should be given every two 
hours, instead of aconite, for the first twelve hours, then give it 
every four hours, then three times a day, as needed. If there is 
much distress in breathing add one-half ounce of laudanum to 
each dose. From the first, give two drachms of nitrate of pot- 
ash and one drachm of sulphate of cinchonida every four hours 
until the fever is broken, then three times a day while convales- 
cent. Also, from the first, a liniment made of equal parts of 
linseed oil, turpentine, and ammonia should be rubbed into the 
sides of the chest once every hour until the skin becomes sore, 
then Just often enough to keep it so. I consider these last two 
most important of all. A pail of fresh water and a little hay 
should be within reach at all times. Bran, oats, or corn, as the 
animal eats best, should be given judiciously, but not left be- 
fore it long at a time if it does not eat it. If the legs are cold, 
rub and bandage them. Much depends upon the good judgment 
of the nurse in treating this disease. 



THE FAEMEK's ready REFERENCE. 25 

Pleurisy. 

Pleurisy is inflammation of the membrane covering the 
lungs and lining the thoracic cavity. It is often complicated 
with pneumonia. The causes are the same in both. 

SY3IPTOMS.— The symptoms are somewhat similar to those 
of pneumonia. In addition there is a short, hacking, suppressed 
cough, and the breathing is shorter. There is always a hollow 
place passing from the flank downward and forward along the 
lower ends of the ribs, known as the pleuritic ridge, and when 
you attempt to move the horse he acts as if stifl:' and gives a short 
grunt at every step. He does not lie down, even at night. 

Treatment. — Same as in pneumonia. If there is great 
prostration two drachms of muriate of ammonia should be added 
to each dose of nitre, and, if the heart is labored, twenty drops of 
tincture of digitalis may be given three times a day. If this 
disease is taken at the start it generally yields to treatment, but 
if allowed to run four or Ave days the chest begins to fill with 
fluid and then it becomes serious, and requires the most skillful 

treatment. 

Hydrothorax. 

This is the filling of the chest with water as the result of 
pleurisy. If it is not checked the horse may live two or three 
weeks, but finally dies of suffocation. It is impossible for the 
novice to treat it. A skillful veterinarian should be called at 
once. 

Roaring. 

Heavy and wind-broken horses are often called roarers, but 
there are some in which the difticulty is in the throat instead of 
in the lungs. It is due to a thickening of the membrane lining 
the larynx, and finally a wasting of the muscles of the larynx. 
When it is of long standing it is incurable. 



26 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Sympto^is.— A loud roaring or whistling noise when the 
horse is pulled hard or driven fast. 

Treatment.— This can only be palliative. A sharp blister 

on the outside of the throat, and from one to two drachms of 

iodide of potash given twice a day for a week, may relieve it for 

a time. 

Chronic Cough. 

This is generally the result of some previous disease. It may 
come from the throat only and is then short and hacking, or it 
may come from the lungs and in that case will be deep and hollow . 

Treatment.— Give a tablespoonf ul of the following powder 
in feed three times a day: Powdered anise seed, foenugreek, 
Jamaica ginger, nitrate of potash, and muriate of ammonia, 
equal parts, mixed. Blister the throat if the cough is hacking. 

Purpura Hemorrhagica. 

Although this is a disease of the blood it generally follows 
some one of the respiratory diseases ; therefore. I give it with 
them. 

Causes.— It comes from an impoverished condition of the 
blood, the result of debility from some other disease. The watery 
portions of the blood ooze through the walls of the blood vessels 
and settle under the skin of the most pendant parts. 

SY3IPTOMS — The pulse becomes weak and wiry, and there is 
great debility ; the mucous membrane of the eyes and nostrils 
is studded with red or purple spots. The legs, head and under 
the belly swell rapidly, the swellings ending very abruptly as 
though a string was tied around the limb. 

Treatment. — Treatment is not generally satisfactory unless 
in the hands of a good physician. A half pint of raw linseed oil 
and one-half ounce of turpentine should be given at once and 
repeated every morning thereafter. Mix together two ounces of 



THE FAKMER's ready REFERENCE. 27 

tincture muriate of iron, one ounce tincture of gentian, one 
drachm fluid extract of nux vomica, and one ounce of water and 
give one tablespoonful in three times its bulk of water, with a 
syringe, every two hours. The swellings may be bathed with 
cold, salt water, but use no strong liniments on them. 

Recapitulation 

On the Treatment of Respiratory Diseases. Pure air for breath- 
ing, and warm clothing for the body are both indispensable. 
Never give a physic; but open the bowels with injections of 
warm water. Give plenty of fresh, cool water to drink. Never 
drench when the throat is sore. Dilute all strong medicines 
before giving. 



DISEASES OF THE ALIMENTARY 
CANAL. 



Teeth. 

As the teeth are the principal organs by which the food is 
prepared to enter tlie stomach, it is necessary that they are 
sound and in good order. Young horses often suffer during 
their second dentition. Sometimes the old caps of the milk 
teeth fail to shed and remain wedged in between the permanent 
teeth as they grow out. When this happens they should be 
removed with a pair of forceps. 

By reason of a difference of width in the upper and lower 
jaws the teeth become so worn as to leave sharp points on the 
outer edges of the upper teeth which lacerate the cheeks, and on 
the inner edges of the lower teeth which lacerate the tongue. 
Also, sometimes one of the grinders is broken oft" by biting upon 
some hard substance in the feed ; and then the tooth in the jaw 
opposite, receiving no pressure, soon extends into the vacancy 
and causes great inconvenience in eating. Slobbering, cudding 
the hay, and taking a mouthful of grain and letting it drop again 
are indications that something is wrong with the teeth. The 
long teeth should either be extracted or cut oft and the sharp 
points should be dressed down. Special instruments, as well as 
experience, are necessary in such cases, and the best way is to 
go to a good veterinary dentist. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 29 

Wolf Teeth. 

The so-called '' wolf or blind teeth" are the great bugbear 
of the quack. The term '' wolf " is a misnomer applied by 
early-day horsemen as signifying something harmful or destruc- 
tive, as these teeth were supposed to affect the eyes. A more 
appropriate name would be Rejinant Teeth, as they are sim- 
ply the remnants of teeth once functionally developed and which, 
through the process of evolution, have diminished to their 
present size and inconstancy. They have no effect upon the 

eyes whatever. 

Tongue. 

Sometimes the tongue becomes sore from cutting on the 
teeth or other cause. Dissolve an ounce of alum in a pint of 
water and apply three times a day. 

Lam pas. 

This is not properly a disease ; but rather a condition conse- 
quent upon the process of dentition. Do not burn them out 
with a hot iron, but, if greatly gorged with blood, scarify the 
gums with a sharp knife. All that is necessary generally is to 
rub the gums with powdered alum and give the horse soft feed 

for a few days. 

Choking. 

Sometimes a horse, wiien feeding upon dry oats or ground 
feed, will get some of it lodged in the gullet and become 
choked. Moving around or making him jump over some object 
will generally remove it. Give him a couple of ounces of oil, or 
dissolve a teaspoonful of saltpetre in two ounces of water and 
pour down his throat, then rub the outside of the neck with the 
hand. If these remedies fail, seek a veterinarian, as it is not 
safe for the uninitiated to attempt to use the probang. 



30 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Indigestion. 

Indigestion may be acute, coming on quickly, or it may be 
chronic, coming on slowly. But, as the acute form is the fore- 
runner of, and generally ends in, flatulent colic, it will be fully 
treated under that head ; hence, only the chronic form will be 
considered here. 

Chronic Indigestion or Dyspepsia 

Is a very common disease among horses. It is generally the 
result of irregular and injudicious feeding. It comes on slowly, 
and therefore is not noticed until it has a fast hold upon the 
animal. 

Symptoms. — The horse has a rough, staring coat and a dull 
appearance generally ; the appetite varies ; sometimes he eats 
fairly well, but at other times the food remains untouched ; he 
eats very little hay at any time. The bowels are sometimes 
loose and at others constipated ; the manure is of a pale or clay 
color and the animal often has slight attacks of colic. If you put 
your hand back in his mouth the saliva from the tongue has a 
foul odor. 

Treatment. — Give five to eight drachms of Barbadoes aloes 

combined with one drachm of calomel. In twenty-four hours 

begin with the following, giving a tablespoonful three times a 

day : Powdered charcoal, bicarbonate of soda and gentian root, 

equal parts, mixed. The feed should be bran and oats and good 

hay. A little salt should be given once every day, and the 

animal should be watered half an hour before each meal but not 

soon after the meal. 

Flatulent Colic. 

Although the word colic, in its true sense, signifies pain in 
the colon, yet popular usage has applied it to pain in any part of 
the abdomen. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 31 

Flatulent colic is the result of acute indigestion and is char- 
acterized by an accumulation of gas in the stomach and intes- 
tines, accompanied by violent pain. Sometimes it results from 
the fermentation of food that has been washed or crowded out 
of the stomach before it had been thoroughly digested ; in that 
case the stomach is not so much involved. This is often the 
result of feeding grain first and then giving water soon after- 
ward. 

Symptoms.— The horse will become uneasy ; look back at 
his sides ; paw a few times, then lie dow^n and stretch out upon 
the ground. As there is no visible bloating the owner is often at 
a loss to know what the trouble is. Sometimes the animal will 
get up and stretch out as if to urinate ; then the novice pro- 
nounces it " stoppage of the water." This is the stage which 
veterinarians term acute indigestion. The whole trouble lies in 
the stomach, and, as it is small, the bloating does not show. 
But in a short time the intestines become involved ; the animal 
bloats ; the pains become more violent ; the body is covered 
with perspiration ; the breathing becomes difficult and the 
animal seems about to suffocate in consequence of the stomach 
and intestines crowding upon the lungs 

TREAT3IENT. — Give from one to two ounces of sulphuric 
ether, one ounce of laudanum and one drachm of essence of 
peppermint in about twelve ounces of water. This dose can be 
repeated in half an hour and again in one hour from the second 
dose, if necessary. At the same time copious injections of warm 
water should be given per rectum. As soon as the animal 
becomes manageable, from five to eight drachms of aloes, one 
drachm of calomel and one drachm of gum camphor should be 
given, either in a ball or a drench. It is not best to push medi- 
cines too far. In a prolonged case of colic, where inflammation 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 



is feared, a mustard plaster on the abdomen, as recommended 
in enteritis, will ward it oft". 

Spasmodic Colic. 

This is a spasmodic contraction of the intestines and is due 
to change of diet, change of temperature, eating frozen roots, 
vegetables, etc. 

Symptoms.— The attack comes on suddenly ; the animal 
paws, looks at its sides, jumps up in the air and throws itself 
violently upon the ground, rolls upon its back and tries to bal- 
ance itself there. In a case of purely spasmodic colic there is 
very little, if any, visible bloating, but it is often combined with 
flatulent colic, then there is danger of rupture of the stomach 
from its great distention with gas and the violent plunging 
together. 

Treatment. — If there is no bloating, from one to two ounces 
of laudanum in half a pint of water will generally give relief. 
If there is bloating give the drench recommended for flatulent 
colic. In either case use the warm water injections freely. 
There is no danger of overdoing this part of the treatment, and 
I am satisfied that many cases will yield to hot water injections 
alone if applied in time. The physic, as use;l in flatulent colic, 
should also be given in spasmodic colic. After a case of colic, 
either flatulent or spasmodic, the patient should be allowed no 
grain for at least twelve hours and should be fed sparingly for 
two or three days. 

When a dose of medicine has been given, due time should 
always elapse for it to take effect before another is given. The 
common habit of pouring down dose after dose, as fast as some 
new-comer on the ground recommends a new remedy, has killed 
many a good horse that might have recovered without any medi- 
cine if left alone. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 33 

Constipation. 

See treatment for Chronic Indigestion. 

Enteritis. 

Enteritis is inflammation of the inner or mucous lining of 
the bowels. 

Causes.— Irritating food causing diarrhoea ; catching cold 
or a prolonged case of colic ; and sometimes irritating medicines 
given in the treatment of colic cause it. 

Symptoms. — An ordinary observer will sometimes mistake 
it for colic, but there is a difference. The pain is continuous, 
while in colic there will be quiet spells. The horse lies down 
carefully ; the pulse is soft at first, but rapidly and gradually 
grows faster and harder until it becomes small and wiry and 
then fails altogether. The breathing is hurried, and there is an 
anxious look out of the eyes. Toward the last the patient does not 
lie down but continues to walk until it staggers and falls, 
struggles a few times and expires. 

Treatment.— There is little use for the novice to attempt 

treatment ; it is generally fatal. A quart of raw liuseed oil and 

two ounces of laudanum should be given at once. Mix a pound 

of the best ground mustard with warm water and rub it well 

into the abdomen, then put a sheet of newspaper over it and 

put on a blanket to keep it there. Use warm water injections 

freely. In an hour after giving the oil, if there is pain, begin to 

give one ounce of laudanum every hour until four more doses 

have been given. Repeat the oil in two hours without the 

laudanum. Death or recovery will take place in from six to 

tw^enty-four hours. 

Peritonitis. 

Peritonitis is inflammation of the peritoneum— the mem- 
brane that lines the abdominal cavity and forms the outer cover- 
ing of the intestines. 



34 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Causes,— Injuries to the abdomen, as kicks, blows and 
punctures. It sometimes follows castration. 

Symptoms.— The pulse is quick and hard, and soon grows 
wiry. The horse flinches if you press the abdomen, and he lies 
down carefully, but soon gets up again The animal is disin- 
clined to walk about. 

Treatment.— The same as in enteritis. If the animal 
begins to recover give one drachm of iodide of potassium twice a 
day for a week. If there is a wound, dress it twice a day with 
sulphate of zinc two ounces and w^ater one quart. 

Diarrhoea. 

The passages from the bowels are in a semi-fluid state. 

Causes.— A debilitated condition of the digestive organs 
often brought on by high feeding on rich food. Sometimes it is 
due to some irritating substance eaten by the animal, as frozen 
vegetables or roots, impure w^ater, etc. 

Symptoms.— Passing of the feces in a thin and watery state 
and in large quantities. 

TREAT3IENT.— In mild cases it may only be necessary to put 
the animal on light feed of a dry nature ; but it is generally nec- 
essary to cleanse the bowels by giving a physic. Give from a 
pint to a quart of raw oil and one to two ounces of laudanum at 
one dose. After the oil operates, there is nothing better to 
check the action of the bowels than gruel made of wiieat flour 
and water well boiled, but not burned. From a pint to a quart 
should be given every six hours till the diarrhoea begins to check. 
If there is much pain an ounce or two of laudanum may be 
added. Keep the patient as quiet as possible. 

Dysentery. 

This may result from a prolonged case of diarrhoea, or from 
eating some irritating substance. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 35 



The •discharges are mucous and stringy and tinged with 
blood ; they are frequent and are accompanied with great strain- 
ing. There are often griping pains. 

Treatment.— Give the same treatment as in diarrhoea, and 
also give one half ounce of powdered charcoal and one ounce of 
hyposulphite of soda in the gruel three times a day. 

Megrims— Epilepsy. 

This, in the mild form, is knoAvu as Megrims, Stomach 
Staggers or Blind Staggers ; when it is severe it is sometimes 
called Epilepsy. 

Causes.— Undue pressure of some part of the harness, and 
sometimes severe constipation, or even intestinal worms will 
cause it. 

SYMPT03IS.— The horse often becomes sluggish, then after a 
time begins to stagger or plunge and falls to the ground. 

Treatment.— Remove all harness that might cause pres- 
sure, and wet the top of the head with cold water. If due to 
constipation or worms, treat as prescribed for those diseases 
elsewhere in this work. 

Bots. 

These are the larvse of the gad fly, (Estrus Equi. They are 
a great bugbear of the quack. Every case of colic or bowel 
trouble which does not yield to his treatment being attributed 
to bots. There is no doubt that they irritate the stomach and 
interfere with digestion when in large numbers. They often 
collect in such numbers around the piloric orifice (outlet of the 
stomach) as to almost obstruct that passage. 

Treatment.— There are no known means by which they 
can be dislodged. A good dose of Barbadoes aloes might prove 
beneficial. When the aloes begin to operate an ounce of chloro- 
form in half pint of water might be given. 



36 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Worms. 

Those most commonly infesting the horse are the pin-worms 
or Asca rides. They are a small, round worm, pointed at both 
ends and from one to two inches long. They infest the large 
intestines and rectum. 

The next variety most common is the large round, or lum- 
bricoid worm ; tlie male may grow to twelve and the female to 
fifteen inches in length. They are mostly found in the intes- 
tines. 

Symptoms.— There is generally a whitish-yellow deposit 
around the anus and the worms are occasionally seen in the 
manure. 

Treatment.— A drachm of sulphate of iron given twice a 
day for a week then foUowtd by a purgative is generally effect- 
ive. A pint of raw oil and one ounce of turpentine given on an 
empty stomach will often dislodge them. Wood ashes mixed 
equally with salt and given daily will often answer the purpose. 
In treating for pin- worms the rectum should be injected twice a 
week with turpentine one part, and oil four parts. 

Wormy Corn or Cornstalk Disease. 

This is a peculiar disease which sometimes affects horses in 
Kansas and other corn-growing states. The cause is not thor- 
oughly understood. In my own practice I have found it only 
where horses were allowed to feed upon worm-eaten and mouldy 
corn. 

Symptoms.— The premonitory symptoms are not always well 
marked. Sometimes the animal will appear dull and listless for 
several hours prior to becoming delirious ; while in other cases 
the first symptoms noticed will be those of delirium. The 
animal will plunge about in a reckless manner, running against 
fences, walls, or whatever may be in the way. In some in- 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 37 

stances the animal falls and dies suddenly ; but it generally 
becomes unable to rise and lies upon the ground struggling for 
several hours before it expires. 

Treatment.— After the animal becomes unmanageable it 
is not only dangerous but useless to attempt treatment, as 
disintegration of the brain tissue has begun and a cure is im- 
possible. If noticed while yet under control a large dose of 
aloes— from eight to twelve drachms— should be given at once. 
A. dose composed of half an ounce of chloral hydrate and two 
drachms of bromide of potassium should be given, dissolved in 
water, every hour until four doses have been given, unless the 
patient becomes quiet before. If the disease can be held in 
check until the physic operates there is a prospect of recovery. 
Plenty of cool water should be kept within reach at all times. 

Final Hints. 

• In all such diseases as colic, indigestion, etc., where the 
digestive organs have been overtaxed, all grain should be with- 
held for from twelve to twenty-four hours, and then it should be 
fed sparingly for a few days. A fair allowance of good hay can 
be given, and in all diseases except diarrhoea and dysentery, 
pure, cool (not ice) water should be kept where the animal can 
get it at will, and be changed often to keep it fresh and clean. 



DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



Inflammation of the Brain. 

This is not a very common disease among horses in the 
"• Great West," although it does occur occasionally. 

Causes —It may come from keeping in too high condition ; 
from concussion produced by a fall, or by a blow about the head, 
or it may follow some other disease. 

Symptoms. — The attack is generally preceded by dullness ; 
and if the horse is in the stable he will often rest his head on the 
manger ; the pulse will be full, but the beat will be slower than 
usual ; the breathing will be loud, resembling a snore. As it 
goes on the animal becomes excited and plunges about, reels, 
and sometimes falls. It will walk blindly against a wall and 
then stand and push with its head until the fit passes olf . The 
pulse grows weak and more rapid and the convulsions more 
frequent and frenzied as the disease progresses, and the pupil 
of the eye becomes dilated. 

Treatment.— If the animal is in good condition take four 
to six quarts of blood from the jugular vein ; and keep cloths 
wet with cold water on the head. As soon as the animal 
becomes manageable give from six to ten drachms of aloes and 
a half ounce each of chloral hydrate and bromide of potassium ; 
repeat the last two every four hours until the patient is quiet, 
then three times a day for a few days. When the aloes operate, if 
there is much fetor to the discharges, give one ounce of hypo- 
sulphite of soda three times a day. Give cold water freely and 
feed moderately on soft feed. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 39 

Cerebro=Spinal Meningitis. 

This disease is not very common in this country, but may 
occur under any conditions — either in the stable or in the field. 
It is probably due to some parasitic vegetation which is taken 
into the stomach with the food. It is neither contagious nor 
infectious, but a number of animals may take it from the 
same cause, thus giving the idea of contagion. 

Symptoms.— There is loss of appetite, tremors, spasms, 
twitching of the muscles, and sometimes after reeling about for 
a while the animal goes down paralyzed, especially in the hind 
parts. Sometimes the muscles of the throat are paralyzed and 
the animal cannot swallow. The pupil of the eye is generally 
dilated and the horse may become unconscious. 

Treatment.— If there is complete paralysis, or the animal 
is unconscious, treatment is almost useless ; and it is difficult 
for the novice to treat in any case. Place wet cloths, or ice 
packs, over the brain and along the spine to relieve the conges- 
tion. If the animal can swallow give one ounce of aloes, then 
give four-drachm doses of bromide of potassium three times a day. 
Some practitioners are in favor of putting the patient in slings 
at once, and, although this is best with some horses, there are 
others so nervous they will not bear it. 

Sunstroke. 

This occurs occasionally when in a low-lying tield sur- 
rounded by timber, shutting off all breeze, and under a broiling- 
hot sun a horse is pushed beyond its powers of endurance. 

Symptoms.— The horse becomes slow and dumpish ; pays 
little heed to the driver ; staggers about ; the sweat suddenly 
dries up ; the breathing becomes labored, and he finally drops 
down and becomes unconscious. 



40 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Treatment —If noticed before he goes down, stop in a 
shady place where there is a current of cool air ; give a drink of 
cool water and let him rest an hour or two. If the horse falls 
apply cold water or ice to the head and along the spine, but 
cover the balance of the body up w^arm and get the perspiration 
started. If he can swallow give two ounces of nitre and repeat 
it in an hour. If he begins to revive give one ounce of aloes, 
then give two to four drachms of bromide of potassium three 
times a day for several days. 

Shocked by Lightning. 

I do not remember of ever having seen this subject men- 
tioned in any work on veterinary science. The only literature I 
ever saw touching the subject was a short account of the treat- 
ment of the stallion, Pancoast, by Professor Liautard of the 
American Veterinary College of New York. Although light- 
ning generally kills outright, yet it sometimes happens that the 
shock is light and the animal may recover, as I have had occa- 
sion to know from experience As the shock is often received 
when no one is with the animal to see it, you have only the 
peculiar symptoms, exhibited soon after a storm, upon which to 
base your diagnosis. 

Symptoms.— The animal will generally be found lying 
down or plunging about in the attempt to get upon its feet, 
although I saw one case of a mare that received a shock some- 
time in the night and did not become unable to walk until noon 
the next day. At first there wall be tremors and sharp twitching 
of the muscles ; the eyes will have a dazed appearance ; the 
animal will plunge about and try to get upon its feet ; if it 
succeeds it will walk with a staggering gait, unable to control 
its movements. After a few hours the twitchings cease and 
paralysis, either partial or complete, supervenes. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 41 

TKEAT3IENT.— A moderate dose of Barbadoes aloes sbciild 
be given at once to prevent constipation. If there is twitching 
of the muscles give two to four drachms each of chloral hydrate 
and bromide of potassium every four hours till the twitchings 
cease, then change and give one drachm of powdered mix 
vomica twice a day. If no improvement is noticed after three 
days increase the dose of nux vomica to one and one-half 
drachms. Make a linimt nt of equal parts of raw oil, turpentine 
and ammonia and rub in well all along the spine twice a day. 
Feed upon soft food that is easily digested ; give plenty of w^ater 
to drink and keep well bedded to prevent sores, and turn from 
side to side several times a day. 

Tetanus or Lockjaw. 

Tetanus has heretofore been divided into two kinds; viz.: 
traumatic when the result of a wound, and idiopathic when 
occuring without a prior disease or injury ; but science has 
proven beyond a doubt that the disease is of microbic origin, the 
disease germ entering the animal organism through a wound or 
an abraded surface. Taking this view of tlie disease it is the 
WTiter's opinion that there is but one form of the disease, the 
traumatic, and, although no wound or injury may be found, 
it is there nevertheless. A mere scratch in the skin or a small 
abrasion inside of the mouth is sufficient to afford entrance to 
the germ. Wounds of the feet are more apt to be followed by 
tetanus than any other, due to their being in direct contact with 
ihe earth, the home of the germ which produces the disease. 

Symptoms. — At first the animal will appear stiff, both in 
limbs and body, and the head will be stretched forward. Jerk 
his head up suddenly and you will see the haw or membrane at 
the corner of the eye thrown out till it covers the sight. The 
jaws may not be much affected at first and the animal continues 



42 THE farmer's ready reference. 

to eat; but as the disease progresses the jaws become more set 
until the animal cannot even drink water. 

Treatment.— Treatment is not generally successful except 
in the hands of an expert. If attempted it must be prompt and 
energetic. If the jaws are thoroughly set there is little encour- 
agement, and yet the writer saved one case in which the jaws 
were so tightly closed that liquid would not run back in the 
mouth when the animal was lying down and the nose turned up. 
First find the wound if possible ; cleanse it with warm water, 
then saturate a piece of cotton with either fluid extract of bella- 
donna or lobelia and bind it on the wound. Now give from one 
to two ounces of Barbadoes aloes. If the jaws are too close to 
give in a ball place it back on the teeth with a paddle Mix one 
ounce of turpentine in eight ounces of raw linseed oil and give 
as a drench or with a syringe. Give the following dose at once 
and continue three times a day thereafter : Chloral hydrate and 
bromide of potassium, of each four drachms ; iodide of potas- 
sium, forty grains ; water, three ounces; mix. v\ hen the first 
dose of each medicine has been given, remove the bandage from 
the wound and saturate a piece of cotton with turpentine and 
bind on instead of the other one. In about two hours remove 
this and then dress the wound twice a day with oil and turpen- 
tine mixed in equal parts until pus begins to form. If the 
turpentine irritates the patient, take the cotton ofC and saturate 
it with belladona or lobelia and bind it on again. Keep the 
animal in a dark, cool place where there is no noise and allow no 
one but the attendant to go near. Keep a pail of water where it 
can drink at will. Give gruel or soft food of any kind that it 
will try to eat. 

Paralysis. 

Paralysis is called hemiplegia when one side is affected, and 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 43 



paraplegia when only the hind parts are att'ected ; or there may 
be local paralysis, as of the lips, ears, or of the tail. 

Symptoms —Loss of power in the parts affected ; if only 
partial and the animal can yet walk, there will be unsteadiness 
of the limbs and weaving of the hind parts, or if of one side the 
animal will circle to the affected side. If it lies down there will 
be difficulty in rising, and as it increases the animal will be 
unable to rise. Paralysis of the lips, ears, or other local parts 
will be recognized by the relaxed and pendulous condition of the 
part. 

Treatment.— If the case is of long standing treatment is 
not generally satisfactory. The bowels should be kept in good 
condition by giving soft food, and the animal (if grown) should 
have one drachm of nux vomica twice a day for a week, then the 
dose should be gradually increased a few grains each day until 
slight twitchings of the muscles are seen, but this should only 
be attempted by a competent veterinarian The spine should be 
rubbed twice a day till sore with the ammoniacal liniment. In 
local paralysis the liniment should be applied over the nerve 
which controls the part affected 

Inco=ordination of Movement. 

This is a species of paralysis which affects, usually, all the 
muscles of locomotion in a similar manner. The cerebellum 
(little brain) or small division at the base of the brain is the seat 
of the disease. It is generally due to some injury to the top of 
the head, as a blow, or to falling backwards and striking the 
head. It may also result from undue pressure upon the part, as 
from a tumor growing there. 

Symptoms.— The most prominent is inability to control the 
movements and walking with an unsteady, tottering gait. The 
hesitation and uncertainty with which the horse lifts and 



44 THE farmer's ready reference. 

replaces its feet in walking are often mistaken for stilfness. 
The appetite is generally good and the anitfial maybe in good 
flesh. 

Treatment.— Treatment is the same as in paralysis except 
tliat the liniment only need be applied on the top of the head. 

Chorea. 

Chorea is a disease of the nervous system characterized by 
involuntp.ry twitchings of the muscles. There are several forms 
of the disease of which a short description of each will be given. 

Stringhalt. This is the most common form and is easily 
recognized by every horseman by the sudden jerking-up of one 
hind leg when first starting out; sometimes both hind legs are 
affected There are some cases in which it is not noticeable 
when the animal goes forward, but if you try to back him or 
turn him quickly lie will jerk his feet. And in some instances 
if you try to back him he cannot move, but his tail will be 
elevated and his muscles will become rigid ; hence it is always 
well to try a horse thoroughly before purchasing him 

Immobility. In this form of the disease the horse may 
appear all right while in the stable or moving about the yard 
and he may travel several miles upon the road all right, when 
suddenly and without any apparent cause he begins to go lame 
and in a short time goes down unable to proceed. After a few 
hours' rest, however, he generally gets up ready to continue his 
journey until another attack comes on. This form of the dis- 
ea,se, fortunately, is very rare. 

Shivering. This is of more frequent occurrence than the last 
form. A horse with this form is called a shiverer. He may be 
standing quiet and the attendant strikes him or even speaks 
sharply and he will exhibit an uncontrollable shivering and 
twitching of the muscles, which lasts until the excitement 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 45 



passes off. I have seen another form closely allied to this last, 
but with symptoms very similar to an aggravated case of St. 
Vitus' dance in the human family. 

Treatment —Although it is known to be due to a diseased 
condition of some part of the nervous system yet it is difficult to 
determine just what nerves are affected; hence treatment has 
not generally been successful. There is no known treatment 
which a novice can apply with success. The disease is heredi- 
tary beyond a doubt and animals thus affected should never be 
used for breeding purposes. 



DISEASES OF THE CIRCULATORY 
SYSTEM. 



The Heart. 



The heart is the great fountain-head of the circulatory 
system, and, in connection with its coverings, is subject to num- 
erous diseases— generally sequelse of other diseases ; but, as the 
symptoms are generally so obscure as to baffle the skill of the 
experienced physician, and as treatment is seldom more than 
palliative in the end, it is useless to occupy space here to give 
more than a few general symptoms : The horse will generally be 
very dull and not disposed to move about much ; slight exertion 
will cause the heart to beat tumultously, often so hard as to 
visibly shake the shoulder; the blood in the jugular vein may 
often be seen regurgitating or flowing backward toward the 
head at each beat of the heart ; the pulse will be weak and slug- 
gish, notwithstanding the heart is beating violently. 

Treatment. — When these symptoms become distressing 
place the animal in a well- ventilated stall, or out of doors if in 
warm weather ; give stimulants, as spirits of nitre or whisky, 
and let him rest a few days. 

Inflammation of a Vein. 

Inflammation may occur in any vein, but it is oftenest seen 
in the jugular vein on the side of the neck. It is the result of 
some injury or of a bad job of bleeding or from improper care 
afterward and catching cold in the wound. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 47 

Symptoms —The part becomes swollen and hot, and soon 
grows hard and painful. If it is the jugular vein he will hold 
his head out and appear as if stiff in the neck. 

Treatment.— Cover the swollen part with cloths wrung 
out of hot water and keep it hot and steaming for several hours 
by pouring hot water over it ; rub the part gently with the hand 
and aim to get the blood started. If an abscess forms open it 
and syringe it out with two teaspoonfuls of carbolic acid in one 
pint of water. If the part remains hard apply a cantharidine 
blister. If the vein becomes obliterated the horse cannot feed 
well with his head down to the ground but should always be fed 
from a manger afterward. 

Rheumatism. 

A constitutional disease supposed to be due to an excess of 
lactic or some other acid in the blood. It is most prevalent 
during wet or changeable weather; it is often caused by 
exposure to cold ; some animals seem predisposed to it and an 
attack will come on apparently without any exciting cause. 

Symptoms.— The animal is suddenly attacked with lameness 
either with or without swelling. Sometimes the lameness will 
shift from one leg to another in twenty-four hours. The 
affected part is very tender on pressure ; the pulse is hard and 
rapid and the temperature is elevated. Rheumatic patients 
generally give forth a sharp, clicking sound from the joints 
when first starting to walk after standing a few minutes. 

Treatment. — Bathe the affected joint with hot salt-water 
several times a day, and after wiping dry each time rub on a 
little of the following : Sweet oil, ammonia, turpentine, oil of 
origanum, spirits of camphor and fluid extract of belladona,of 
each, two ounces. Give internally a dose of aloes sufficient to 
open the bowels, then give the following dose three times a day : 



48 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Bicarbonate of potash, two to four drachms ; powdered colchicum 
seed, one-half to one drachm ; mix. Vary the amount of the 
dose to suit the size of the horse. Keep the animal loose in a 
roomy, warm, but well- ventilated box stall. Feed on soft food 
of, a laxative character. 

Erysipelas. 

Erysipelas is a febrile disease in which the skin, and" often 
the tissues underlying it, become swollen, hot and painful. It 
is of two forms : The simple or superficial form, rarely seen in 
the horse, and the phlegmonous or deep form. It is due to some 
poisonous germ which gets into the blood, often through a 
wound. 

Symptoms. — In the simple form there will be swelling and 
the formation of small blisters on the skin. In the phlegmonous 
form there may be a wound that has not been doing well for a 
day or two when suddenly it begins to swell and becomes hot ; 
it is painful to the touch and the sore gives forth a dark, watery 
discharge instead of pus, and there is a smell as of burnt 
leather ; there is a crackling sound as you rub your hand over 
the skin, owing to the air underneath. The temperature will be 
elevated ; the pulse will be quick and hard ; the horse will show 
signs of great pain and have an anxious expression about the 
eyes. ,■,,,„, ^ 

Treatment.— In the siniple form give a teaspoonful of 
nitrate of potash in feed three times a day, and keep the swell- 
ing wet with the following : Sugar of lead, two ounces ; sulphate 
of zinc, one ounce ; water, one quart. In the phlegmonous form 
an ounce of aloes should be given at the start, and in addition 
to the potash, stimulants, as nitre or whisky, should be given. 
This form is generally fatal. It should be handled with care, as- 
it is contagious to both man and beast. 



DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 



Inflammation of the Kidneys. 

This disease very rarely occurs in the horse, although quacks 
frequently claim its presence; but that is more to cover up 
ignorance than from any knowledge of the disease. In order to 
prove their diagnosis correct they often pinch the animal on the 
loins to make him flinch, which most horses will do at any time. 

SY3IPT0MS.— The symptoms somewhat resemble those of 
colic, except there is fever. There will be thirst, arching of 
the back, stiffness, and tenderness across the loins; violent 
straining to urinate, but only passing a few drops and that 
highly colored, and may be bloody 

TREAT3IENT.— A quart of raw linseed oil and two ounces of 
laudanum should be given at once, and if the pain continues the 
laudanum may be repeated in two hours in half a pint of oil. 
A mustard plaster should be put over the loins at once, and 
injections of very warm water should be given freely in the 
rectum once every hour till the pain is relieved. When the 
animal begins to improve give soft food and add a teaspoonful of 
bicarbonate of soda to the feed three times a day. 

Inflammation of the Bladder. 

This seldom occurs except in a mare where the bladder has 
been injured in delivering a large foal. 

Symptoms.— The animal walks with a straddling gait and 
the urine is passed every few minutes but only in small quan- 
tities. 



50 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Treatment.— The same as in inflammation of the kidneys, 
except the mustard plaster should be omitted and the warm 
water should be injected into the vagina as well as the rectum. 
The animal should be kept as quiet as possible. 

Bloody Urine. 

Tliis is frequently the result of some injury ; it may be from 
ovf r exertion. It sometimes comes from some abnormal growth 
in the kidneys, or tliere may be a calculus (stone) in the bladder. 
In either of the latter it will require special treatment by a 
veterinarian. 

TaEATMSN^T.— lii or Unary cases a dose of from one-half to 
one drachm of sugar of lead given three times a day, for a few 
days, will generally check it If the blood continues, or returns 
again after having been checked, it will be well to seek the serv- 
ices of a competent veterinarian. 

Azoturia. 

Azoturia, so called from Azote, meaning nitrogen, is sup- 
posed to be due to an excess of nitrogen in the blood. A horse, 
in fair condition and on full feed, is doing regular work every 
day ; finally, he is kept in the stable for a few days, not even 
turned out for exercise, but has his regular feed ; then he is 
taken out to work and an attack comes on. 

Symptoms.— The horse is taken from the stable full of life, 
and, to all appearances, in the best of condition for work. He 
may go half a mile or several miles when he gets sluggish, 
begins to sweat profuselv and may appear lame in one or both 
hind legs. He may swell at the lower and back part of each 
slioulder and go stiff in front, or the muscles of the loins may be 
swollen and hard. He may only appear stiff or he may go down 
unable to rise again. He does not generally lose his appetite, 



THE FAKMER's ready REFERENCE. 51 

but will eat and drink as if nothing was wrong, even when he is 
down and cannot get up. 

Treatment.— Get the animal in a comfortable position, 
and, if he cannot rise, give him a good bed of straw but do not 
sling him. Give a full dose of aloes at once and draw off the 
urine with a catheter and you will tind it the color of strong 
coffee. Wring cloths from hot water and place across his loins, 
or, if the weather is cold, use bags of dry salt made hot, instead 
of the cloths. Give no grain and very little hay until the 
purgative operates, but give all the cool water he will drink, and 
in each pailful put a tablespoonful of hypo-sulphite of soda. 
The horse should be changed from side to side occasionally and 
the urine should be drawn away every four or live hours. After 
the bowels have moved he should have a small quantity of oats 
and bran mash and a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda three 
times a day. When he begins to get the use of his limbs help 
him to get on his feet and let him out in a yard for exercise. To 
guard against this disease, a horse should never be allowed to 
stand in the stable on full feed, but should be turned out for 
exercise when not at work. 

Diabetes. 

This disease is probably due to some impurity in the food, as 
musty hay or grain ; it is not the same in the horse as in the 
human being, there being no sugar in the urine. 

Symptoms.— The symptom most likely to attract attention 
is the frequent voiding, in large quantities, of pale, thin urine. 
If the animal stands in the stable the stall will be kept con- 
stantly wet. There will also be great thirst ; and, although the 
appetite may be fair, the animal will be dull ; the hair will be 
rough and the hide will be tight. 



52 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Treatment.— As the true cause is generally some derange- 
ment of the digestive organs, we should begin the treatment 
there. Mix together equal parts of gentian, bicarbonate of soda 
and powdered charcoal and give half a tablespoonful three times 
a day in some easily-digested, laxative food. To check the flow 
of urine give the following dose twice a day : Iodine crystals, 
forty grains; iodide of potassium, twenty grains; water, one 
pint ; mix, and give as a drench. As this is best not taken into 
the stomach with the food, one dose should be given about the 
middle of the forenoon and the other in the middle of the after- 
noon, half way between the feeds of grain. Two or three days 
of this will generally be sufficient, but it may be necessary to 
continue longer. Give plenty of drinking water often and in 

small quantities. 

Dribbling of Urine. 

This is due to a relaxing of the muscles that close the neck 
of the bladder. It is frequently seen in brood mares after diffi- 
cult parturition. In such cases it is the result of severe and 
prolonged pressure on the parts in delivering a large foal. As 
each case will require special treatment according to the nature 
of the case, which can only be determined by an examination, 
the best plan will be to consult a competent veterinarian. 



DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE 
ORGANS. 



Inflamtnation of the Testicles* 

This sometimes happens in the stallion and is generally due 
to some injury, as a kick from a mare while in the act of service. 

Treatment.— Give a dose of aloes sufficient to open the 
bowels, and give half-ounce doses of nitrate of potash three or 
four times a day. Suspend the testicles by placing a bandage 
around and under the hind quarters ; keep cloths wet with hot 
water inside of the bandage around the testicles. If there is 
much pain give an ounce or two of laudanum internally and 
saturate a piece of cotton with fluid extract of lobelia and wrap 
it around the testicles. Moderate exercise will be beneficial if 
the testicles are supported. 

Hydrocele. 

This is the filling of the scrotum with fluid and is generally 
the result of prolonged or oft-repeated attacks of inflammation. 

Treatment.— Support the testicles with a truss or suspen- 
sory and give internally one or two drachms of iodide of potas- 
sium. If there is no improvement it may be necessary to 
puncture the scrotum which will require the skill of a veteri- 
narian. 

Phymosis— Paraphymosis. 

These are both sw^ollen conditions of the penis. The first is 
when the penis remains within the sheath, and the second is 



54 THE farmer's ready reference. 

when it is protruding and cannot be drawn back on account oi 
the swelling ; both are due to the same causes, viz.: injuries to 
the penis or adjacent parts. In the stallion it may be due to 
kicks during the act of service. It sometimes results from ca&- 
tration in colts. 

Treatment. — Bathe the parts freely with warm w;.ter and 
if the penis protrudes support it with a bandage. After the 
soreness has been somewhat removed by bathing, moderate 
exercise should be given In very severe cases give nitrate cf 
potash in two to four drachm doses three times a day. 

Gonorrhoea. 

This is an irritation of the membrane covering the penis 
and lining the sheath. In stallions it generally comes from 
serving a mare that has an acrid discharge from the vagina, 
probably from not cleaning properly after foaling. The irrita- 
tion may be communicated to mares if the horse is allowed to 
serve while affected. A somewhat similar condition is seen in 
geldings as the result of foul sheath. 

Symptoms.— Small sores will be noticed on the penis from 
which a slight discharge issues. In mares there will be a dis- 
charge from the vagina, and sores will form where it runs down 
on the outside. 

Treatment.— Lay the stallion oif from service and wash 
the penis with cool water, then apply a little of the following 
three or four times a day with a soft sponge : Sugar of lead, one 
ounce ; sulphate of zinc, six drachms ; carbolic acid, two 
drachms ; rain water, one quart ; mix. 

Do not inject it in the urethra, as the disease rarely extends 
beyond the orifice, and injections are liable to irritate the deli- 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 55 

cate membrane. Severe cases may have a dose of nitrate of 
potash three times a day. 

In mares syringe out the vagina with tepid water and inject 
the lotion. It is not generally serious and yields readily to 
treatment in a few days. 



DISEASES PECULIAR TO THE MARE. 



Inflammation of the Womb. 

This occurs in a day or two after parturition and is the 
result of injury or from lying on the damp ground soon after 
foaling and catching cold. 

SYMPT03IS. — Arching the back and straining as in foaling ; 
there will be a dark, watery discharge from the vagina ; also, a 
loss of appetite, rapid pulse, high fever, and an anxious 
expression about the eyes. The mare will look back and show 
symptoms similar to those of colic. 

Treatment.— Give from one to two pints of raw oil and 
one or two ounces of laudanum; and give two drachms of 
nitrate of potash and one drachm of sulphate of cinchonida 
every two hours until four doses have been given, then give 
every four hours till recovery. Wash the uterus out with warm 
water, then inject a pint of water in which has been dissolved 
ten grains of corrosive sublimate. This should be done two or 
three times a day. Keep the mare in a comfortably warm and 
dry box stall. Give all the water she wants to drink. 

Inflammation of the Udder. 

This may occur in mares that are great milkers if the foal 
be not allowed to draw the milk away regularly : it may also 
come from catching cold by lying on the wet ground. 

Treatment.— Bathe the udder freely with warm water, 
and either draw the milk all away or let the colt do it, then rub 
in thoroughly some of the following : Sweet oil, two ounces ; 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 57 

fluid extract of lobelia, one ounce ; mixed. This should be 
washed off again in half an hour to let the colt suck, as it is not 
likely to do so if the medicine is there. A few applicatioi.s 
during the day will remove the trouble if the milk is drawn 
away often. Moderate exercise will assist greatly to remove it. 

Leucorrhcea. 

This is a chronic discharge that comes from the womb. It 
may lesult from a part of the placenta remaining in the womb 
after parturition, decaying and setting up irritation, but it is 
more often due old age and general debility. A mare will not 
thrive while in this condition. It can easily be recognized by 
the frequent discharge from the vagina of a white, glary and 
curdled fluid ; the discharge is generally fetid. If the mare is 
allowed to stand quiet for an hour or two and then started up 
quickly she will throw out a large quantity that accumulated 
while standing. The tail and hind legs are kept in a filthy con- 
dition, and the hair all over the body is rough and staring and 
the e>es often have a sunken, hollow look, giving a run-down 
appearance to the animal in general. 

Treatment.— It will be necessary to have a catheter or a 
small rubber tube that can be inserted into the neck of the 
womb through which water and medicine can be forced with a 
syringe. The womb should be washed out with warm water 
twice a day, and each time a little of the following should 
be injected: Sugar of lead, one ounce; sulphate of zinc, six 
drachms ; carbolic acid, two drachms ; mix, A tablespoonful of 
the following should be given in bran or oats three times a day : 
Nitrate of potash, gentian and sulphate of iron, of each, six 
ounces ; mixed. The mare should be fed liberally and turned 
out in a yard every day for exercise, but should not be worked 
until she has had time to recruit her strength. 



58 THE farmer's ready reference. 



Rupture of the Perineum. 

This is a rupture of the tissues that separate the vagina 
from the rectum. It generally is the result of accident in par- 
turition, but it may happen in the act of service. Very few 
cases can be treated successfully even by the experienced ; hence 
it is useless for the novice to attempt it. Owners of such mares 
frequently become victims of *' medicine sharks" who go about 
the country performing miracles and gulling the people. "A 
hint to the wise is sufficient." 



DISEASES OF THE EYE. 



Simple Ophthalmia. 

The eye may suddenly appear weak and unable to bear the 
light, as a result of catching cold ; the lids are kept closed and 
the tears run down over the cheek. It may also be caused by a 
blow on or near the eye, even though it did not touch the eye- 
ball. It is not generally serious. 

Treatment.— Bathe the eye twice a day with water as hot 
as can be borne with the hand, and protect it from the light for 
a few days until the inflammation is relieved and it is likely to 
be all right. If the eye appears to have a film over it touch it 
twice a day with a little of the following : Nitrate of silver, four 
grains ; distilled water, one ounce ; mix. 

Puncture of the Eyeball. 

Puncture of the eyeball sometimes happens by accident 
while the horse is grazing in the dark among weeds or brush. 
And it frequently happens that a gash is cut across the cornea 
on barbed wire or some other sharp object. If the puncture is 
small, and if it only pierces the anterior chamber of the eye, 
allowing only the aqueous humor to escape, the puncture will 
close and the humor will be reproduced ; but if the puncture 
reaches into the posterior portion of the eye, allowing the 
vitreous humor to escape, or if part of the cornea should be torn 
away, the eyesight will be destroyed. But in either puncture or 
gashing of the cornea, even if the sight is restored, there will 
always remain a small scar at the point of injury. 



60 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Treatment.— Examine the wound carefully and if any part 
of the foreign body remains in the wound it must be removed. 
The eye should be bathed for half an hour twice a day with cold 
water ; a piece of old muslin is better to use in bathing than a 
sponge After bathing each time apply around and in the eye a 
little of the following : Nitrate of potash and sulphate of zinc, 
of each, forty grains ; fluid extract of belladona, four drachms ; 
rain water, one pint; mix. The animal should be kept in a 
moderately-dark stable and fed on light diet. If a spongy 
growth begins to protrude from the wound a little dry calomel 
may be blown into it. If the eyeball remains white after the 
wound is entirely healed apply twice a day with a camel's-hair 
pencil, or with the point of a small feather, a little of the follow- 
ing : Nitrate of silver, four grains ; distilled water, one ounce ; 

mix. 

Specific Ophthalmia. 

This disease is frequently known among horsemen as "" moon 
eyes." It is a constitutional affection which attacks the inner 
structures of the eye ; it is due to hereditary influence, and 
although the first attack may have been caused by some local 
injury or some other known cause, yet that is no evidence that 
the predisposition to, the disease was not lurking in the system 
and the attack would have come on at some time either with or 
without an apparent exciting cause. 

Symptoms.— The first attack may be very slight ; the eye may 
have appeared only a little weak with a slight watery discbarge 
for a few days and then got all right again. Another attack 
may come in a month, or in six months, and it will be a little 
worse and last a little longer. After several attacks the eye will 
begin to look milky while sore, but if you stand close to the 
horse just back of the eye and look forward through it you will 
see that the aqueous humor is clear and the cloudy part is back 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 61 

of it. - Sometimes well-advanced cases will present a yellowish 
deposit in the lower part of the eye. 

Treatment.— The disease is incurable and will sooner or 
later terminate in blindness— sometimes in cataract and some- 
times ill amaurosis. However, treatment can be palliative, and 
if begun in time may prolong the eyesight several years. Very 
heavy feeding especially on corn, should be avoided at all times 
with such an animal. When the attack comes on give a dose of 
aloes sufficient to open the bowels ; give forty grains of quinine 
and four drachms of nitrate of potash in feed or on the tongue 
three times a day for a week. Bathe the eyes for half an hour 
morning and night with very warm water, then apply the fol- 
lowing : Nitrate of potash and sulphate of zinc, of each, forty 
grains ; rain water, one pint ; mix. 

Bleeding Fungus. 

Sometimes as the result of an injury, in connection with 
some constitutional tendency, a spongy growth will appear in 
the eye and continue to grow until it protrudes in an unsightly, 
bleeding mass over the cheek ; it appears to be of a somewhat 
cancerous nature and if only partly removed will grow all the 
faster. It may become so extensive as to produce caries of the 
bone. 

Treatment.— The only mode of treatment the writer ever 
found to be effectual is to remove the entire mass of diseased 
tissue, including the eyeball if diseased. If there is much 
bleeding saturate a bunch of cotton with tincture muriate of 
iron and press it into the cavity, leaving it there until the next 
day when it should be removed and another piece saturated with 
a solution of chloride of zinc, one drachm to the ounce of water, 
and pressed into the cavity. This should be repeated next day, 
and then it should be cleansed once a day thereafter with car- 



62 THE farmer's ready reference. 

bolized water, and carbolized vaseline applied and the orifice 
again filled with cotton to keep out the dirt. 

Torn Eyelids. 

Sometimes, by accident, the eyelids become torn. Never 
cut the loose parts away if they can possibly be saved ; it leaves 
the eye wiihout protection. Cleanse them and bring the edges 
together with a few stitches and they will soon unite again. 



DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 



Eczema. 

There is a severe itching of the skin, generally of the shoul- 
ders or of the hind quarters; numerous small blisters are 
formed on the skin and are broken open by the frantic rubbing 
of the animal, especially on going into the stable after being 
warmed up at work. 

Treatment.— Give the horse internally a heaping table- 
spoonful of the following twice a day : Epsom salt, sulphur and 
cream of tartar, of each equal parts, mixed. Feed on oats and 
bran, but no corn. Turn out on grass if convenient. Bathe the 
affected parts twice a day with hypo-sulphite of soda, two 
ounces ; carbolic acid, two drachms ; water, one quart ; mixed. 

Prurigo. 

When horses are highly fed on corn or other heating food 
there is often a severe itchiness of the skin which makes the 
animal almost frantic at times ; he will bite his sides and rub 
himself against the side of the stall until the skin becomes bare 
and raw in places. There are no blisters or pimples at first, but 
just a severe irritation of the minute terminal nerves of the skin 
due to an over-heated, surfeited condition of the system from 
high feeding. 

Treatment.— Change the feed if possible ; give no corn ; 
feed oats and bran and give carrots, potatoes, and any other 
vegetables that he will eat of a cooling nature. Give a heaping 
tablespoonful of Glauber's salt in the feed twice a day. Wash 



64 THE farmer's ready reference. 

the body of the horse all over to remove the dirt from the skiD, 

then sponge him all over with strong vinegar. The apj-lication 

of the vinegar should be repeated every day or two unt.l the 

irritation ceases. 

Urticaria. 

This is an irritation of the skin which occurs among colts 
and young horses, generally in spring or early summer months ; 
but may appear at any season of the year. It has been attributed 
by some to change of weather and by others to something in the 
diet ; the exact cause, however, is unknown. It comes on very 
suddenly. An animal all right in the morning may be covered 
with little nodules at noon. The nodules are broad at the base 
and rise up from a quarter to a half inch high, resembling a 
swelling from a bee sting. They may be only on some part of 
the body or may cover head and neck as well, and sometimes 
the eyes are closed with the swellings. It is not serious, and 
often passes off as suddenly us it came on. 

Treatment.— Bathe the swellings with salt water and give 

a heaping teaspoonf ul of nitrate of potash three times a day, or a 

tablespoonful of Epsom salt twice a day till the skin is all clear 

again. 

Summer Sores. 

Small lumps or pimples the size of a pea or larger come on 
the skin on any part of the body or limbs ; these itch, and, by 
rubbing, a raw sore is produced which increases in size, becomes 
hard or caked, and a bloody serum oozes out. Because of severe 
itching the horse continues to rub and bite the sore until a 
surface several inches in diameter is often involved. These 
sores are due to a parasite [Filaria irritans) which must be 
destroyed before permanent healing can take place. 

Treatment.— Shower the part for half an hour with cold 
water, then gponge it over thoroughly with chloroform until 



THE FAKMER's ready REFERENCE. 65 

every part has been saturated, after which apply a coating of 
the following: Calomel, one ounce; tannic acid, one ounce; 
vaseline, four ounces ; mix. This entire treatment must be 
repeated faithfully every day until the sore is all healed. The 
animal must be prevented from biting the sore. 

Lice. 

Any and all animals are liable to be troubled with lice, and 
more especially those that are thin in flesh. Where only one or 
two are to be treated a mixture of one part oil of tar, two parts 
sulphur and four parts of lard well rubbed in about the head, 
mane and along the spine once a week for three weeks will 
elfect a cure ; but if a large number are to be treated the wash 
prescribed for mange will be cheaper and more readily applied. 

Hen Lice. 

Where chickens are allowed to roost or build nests about the 
stable, horses are apt to become infested with hen lice, and will 
rub and bite themselves wildly, while nothing can be seen except 
on the closest inspection. Any of the preparations for horse 
lice or mange will kill them, but the stable must also be cleansed 
or they will be as bad as ever in a day or two. 

Ringworm. 

Ringworm is due to a vegetable parasite ( Trichophyton tonsu- 
rans) which manifests its presence by small, round spots of bald 
scurfy skin, frequently about the head and face, but may come 
on any part of the body. It is contagious to man or beast and 
should not be neglected. 

Treatment.— Wash off the scabs and apply tincture of 
iodine once a day for three days. Repeat at the end of a week if 
necessary. 



68 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Warts. 

Warts are small, rough, scaly tumors or abnormal growths 
formed by a thickening of the skin ; they may come on any part 
of the body or limbs, but are often seen in great numbers about 
the nose and eyelids. If they are very small and numerous, as 
is often the case about the nose, they can often be removed by a 
daily application of castor oil with plenty of hand-rubbing. 
But if they grow singly the best plan is to take a sharp knife 
and cut them out, including a narrow strip of healthy skin all 
around the wart to insure getting all the roots. Flat warts 
may sometimes be removed by touching once a day with nitric 
acid, but do not let it get on the healthy skin. 

Bleeding Warts — Recurrent Tumors. 

There is a species of tumor commonly called "bleeding 
wart " that grows on the lower or less fleshy part of the leg of 
the horse as the result of some deep-seated injury, frequently 
from a neglected wire cut where the covering (periosteum) of 
the bone has been injured. If not taken in its early stages it is 
very difficult to control, as cutting out, unless every particle is 
removed, only seems to make it grow more rapidly. 

Treatment.— Remove the tumor with a knife to the level 
of the skin, then make enough paste to cover the tumor, as fol- 
lows : Take chloride of zinc, and just enough water to dissolve 
it ; add enough wheat flour to form a paste ; spread this over 
the surface of the tumor ; lay on a piece of cotton to keep it from 
spreading and apply a bandage around the whole for twenty-four 
hours, then remove it. Keep the part oiled and in a week or less 
the dead tissue will drop out, when, if any of the roots remain, 
the process should be repeated. When it is all out the wound 
can be healed by a daily application of the following wash : 
Chloride of zinc, three drachms ; rain water, one pint ; mix. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 67 

Melanotic Tumors. 

Melanosis is a disease peculiar to white or gray horses ; 
sometimes, though not often, seen in others. It manifests itself 
in black, hairless tumors resembling rubber. Tliey may occur 
on any part of the body, but are oftenest seen about the root of 
the tail and around the anus. If small they may be dissected 
out ; if large, and deep in the muscles, let them alone. 

Mange. 

Mange, sometimes called'' Texas itch," because many horses 
coming from Texas were infested wi h it, is due to a parasite 
which burrows in the skin. The parasites are of three varieties, 
viz.: the sarcoptes, dermatocoptis and dermatophagus. 

Symptoms.— There will be intense itching of the skin, 
increasing the more it is rubbed. Small blisters or pimples will 
form, and, when broken by rubbing, will discharge a gluey sub- 
stance that dries on the skin. The hair will be rubbed off and 
the skin thickened. 

Treatment. — Make a wash of unslacked lime, one pound ; 
sulphur, two pounds : water, two gallons ; slake the lime in the 
water first, then add the sulphur and boil and stir until thor- 
oughly combined. Select a warm day and first wash the animal 
with warm water and soap ; when nearly dry apply the wash 
with a large swab or mop, rubbing it well into the skin. It 
should be repeated in a week. It generally takes about three 
applications to effect a cure. Where a large number of animals 
are affected, a tank, such as that used for dipping sheep, can be 
used. The disease is contagious and all harness and blankets 
used about it should be washed in hot water and soap and then 
sponged with a five per cent solution of carbolic acid. 

Scratches. 

Horses that are working in the mud and slush from rain and 



68 THE farmer's ready reference. 

snow in cold weather, and are not properly dried, are apt to have 
the legs about the heels and fetlocks to become rough and sore 
and crack open ; sometimes the legs swell up and become 
painful. 

Treat^ient. — Wash the parts with warm water and castile 
soap and dry them, then apply three times a day a wash made as 
follows : Sugar of lead, two ounces ; sulphate of zinc, one ounce ; 
carbolic acid, three drachms ; water, one quart. Turn the 
animal out in a dry yard for exercise, and feed on light diet. 

Grease Heel. 

When a case of scratches has been neglected for a long time 
the blood becomes impure ; the legs swell badly and a greasy, 
fetid matter oozes out through the pores of the skin and the 
horse often becomes quite lame. 

Treatment.— Give the horse a dose of aloes sufficient to 
physic him, then give a heaping teaspoonful of nitrate of potash 
in bran mash three times a day. Apply a poultice of linseed 
meal dusted over with powdered charcoal once a day till the 
sores have a healthy appearance. If there is any proud flesh 
touch it with lunar caustic. When the sores are healthy apply 
the wash prescribed for scratches. The horse should be fed on 
cooling, laxative diet, and exercised, in a dry yard, enough to 
take the swelling down. If the case proves obstinate give the 
following internally : Iodide of potash, two ounces ; Fowler's 
solution of arsenic, eight ounces ; water, eight ounces ; mix. 
Dose, two tablespoonf uls in a little water or on the feed twice a 
day. It is often very tedious to treat. •* 



DISEASES OF THE LYMPHATIC 
SYSTEM. 



Lymphangitis. 

This is also sometimes known as weed, Monday morning 
fever, etc. It occurs oftenest among heavy work horses that 
are working hard and being fed highly. They are sometimes 
allowed to stand in the stable idle for a day or two and the full 
amount of feed given ; a larger amount of nutritive material is 
formed than can be taken up by the absorbents and the result is 
an attack of the disease. 

Symptoms.— After a day or two of complete idleness the 
horse will be found with one hind leg badly swollen and very 
tender to pressure, especially along the line of the lymphatics on 
the inside of the leg. It may occur in both hind legs, and it is 
possible, in the fore legs. The appetite is generally gone, the 
pulse very full, and the horse shows signs of suffering. 

Treatment. — Give a dose of aloes according to the size and 
strength of the horse ; and give half-ounce doses of nitrate of 
potash three times a day. Bathe the swelled leg with very warm 
water for half an hour, then rub on a liniment made of tincture 
of arnica, fluid extract of lobelia and distilled extract of witch 
hazel, equal parts. As soon as the inflammation passes off the 
horse should be turned out for exercise. 

Anasarca. 

This disease is characterized by dropsical swellings of the 



70 THE farmer's ready reference. 

limbs and lower part of the body. When it comes under the 
belly some call it "" water farcy;" an-l it is called '' stocking" 
when in the legs. It is due to a debilitated condition of the 
system. The walls of the blood vessels become relaxed and 
allow the thin, watery part of the blood to ooze out and settle in 
the cellular tissue underneath the skin. 

SY3IPT03IS — The legs will be swelled after standing in the 
stable over night, but it is not so extensive as in lymphangitis, 
and is not painful ; and it will pit upon pressure with the fingers 
Swellings often form under the belly, sometimes to the thickness 
of a couple of inches. It passes away with exercise and returns 
again when the horse stands over night. 

Treatment.— A purgative is not generally advisable ; but 
the bowels must be regulated by giving soft, digestible food. 
Give, morning and night, a dose composed of nitrate of potash, 
two drachms ; sulphate of iron, two drachms ; nux vomica, one 
drachm ; and feed liberally to build up the strength. Do not 
blister the swellings nor apply strong liniment ; but apply cold 
water with force, as from a hose, for ten minutes, then rub the 
parts dry with a cloth and give plenty of rubbing with the hand 
or with a brush. Give moderate exercise every day. 

Swelling of the Sheath. 

This is very common and is due to the same cause. Exer- 
cise will generally effect a cure. 

Horses that have run in the pasture until late in the fall and 
are then stabled should be fed up gradually and have exercise 
every day throughout the winter if not at regular work. 



WOUNDS AND THEIR TREATMENT. 



In this land of barbed wire fences, wounds in horses are of 
common occurrence. They occur on all parts of the body and 
limbs. As they generally take place while the animal is running 
at large in the pasture they are often not discovered until all 
bleeding has ceased ; but if bleeding seriously when found the 
proper proceedure would be to take the vein or artery up and 
tie it, or twist it. [f that cannot be done, saturate a piece of 
cotton with tincture muriate of iron and bind on ; or, if no iron 
is at hand, bind on the cotton alone and apply pressure. Bleed- 
ing in any part of the body can often be stopped by allowing a 
stream of cold water to fall two or three feet and strike on top of 
the loins for a few minutes. The bandage should be left on 
twenty-four to forty -eight hours to insure against bleeding when 
it is removed. When there is no bleeding the wound should be 
cleansed by pouring on warm water, then it should be dressed 
with one part turpentine and three parts sweet oil to hasten the 
formation of pus, as the swelling will then go down. It can 
then be healed by an application twice a day of the following : 
Sugar of lead, one ounce ; sulphate of zinc, six drachms ; carbolic 
acid, two drachms; rain water, one quart. Do not keep it 
bandaged, but each time after dressing it dust the raw surface 
over with dry wheat flour. If proud flesh starts, check it with 
burnt alum. Very few wounds need stitching up. They heal 
from the bottom better and scar less if left open. After two or 
three days, when the muscles have become set, all loose parts 
should be neatly trimmed away. Do not keep a horse with a 



72 THE farmer's ready reference. 

sore tied up in a stable, but give him a box stall at night and 
turn him out in a yard in the day time. Standing makes the 
wound grow feverish and swell. Wounds from snags, or other 
sharp-pointed objects, should always ba well examined to see 
that nothing is left in the bottom. 

Fistula and Poll Evil. 

As these two diseases are of exactly the same nature only 
differently located, they will be treated under the sama heading. 
When the disease affects the withers it is fistula, or "• fistulous 
withers ; " and when situated on the top of tha he id it is known 
as poll evil. The disease has always been attributed to a bruise 
or local injury ; but, after an extensive and varied experience 
in treating it, the writer is of the opinion that there is some 
parasitic agent connected with it, and he is glad to learn lately 
that there are others who concur in the same opinion. 

Symptoms.— In either location the disease may begin with a 
stiffness of the part affected witiiout any appireut swelling. 
The horse may be dumpish and off his feed for a few days and 
then seem all right for some time before the swelling appears. 
Finally the parts are swollen, hard at first, but after a time 
growing soft and filled with pus. It may remain swollen a year 
before it breaks, or it may break at any time. Sometimes the 
tumor grows very large. 

Treatment. — If taken before the formation of pus, re- 
peated blistering with biniodide of mercury, one part, to lard, 
six parts, and the administration internally of one to two 
drachms of iodide of potassium twice a day, may ward it off. 
But if pus forms, the tumor should be split open on both sides, 
parallel with the mane When the bleeding has ceased, fill the 
cavities full of lumps of sulphate of copper ; grease the hair 
below it and let it alone for a week, when the dead tissue can be 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 73 

removed. This burning out should be repeated until the sore 
becomes healthy, when an outlet for pus should be made at the 
bottom, and the sore dressed once a day with chloride of zinc, 
two drachms ; water, one pint. The iodide of potassium should 
also be given the same as when the sore is not open. Many 
cases require long and siiillful treatment and some are incurable. 

Calcareous Degeneration. 

This is a species of tumor that has small calcareous or limy 
bodies interspersed through it. These bodies are from the size 
of a millet seed to that of a hazel nut, and form sores if located 
where they receive pressure from the harness. The remedy is 
to dissect the deposits out and then treat as an ordinary wound. 

Callouses. 

Callouses about the shoulders or other parts, the result of 
undue pressure, are best treated by splitting the skin and remov- 
ing the hard tissue with the knife, then healing the wound. 



LAMENESS AND DISEASES OF THE 

FEET. 



While some forms of lameness are so prominent as to be 
plainly visible at a glance, there are others which require the 
closest scrutiny to locate. Again, there are some who seem to 
have an innate faculty for discovering the affected part, while 
there are others who can never become proficient, even with the 
closest study and observation. There are a few points, howeVer, 
which, if borne in mind, may serve as a guide, viz.: If a horse 
is standing, always examine him before he is moved, but do not 
give an opinion until after you have seen him moved. Move 
him on the trot, not on the gallop. If he is lame in front he will 
elevate his head with the lame foot and drop it with the sound 
one. If he is lame in the shoulder he will drag or swing the 
lame leg instead of picking it up quickly and placing it down 
carefully. If lame behind he will elevate the hip on the lame 
side, but the leg will also fail to come as far forward as the 
sound one. A horse lame in or below the hock joint rests his 
foot a little forward of the other ; if lame above the hock he will 
rest it even with or back of the other. Disease of bone grows 
better as it warms up in traveling ; diseased tendon or muscle 
grows worse. If a horse is already warmed up it is well to let 
him cool oft" before examining him. 

A few general directions in the treatment of lameness will 
also save many words hereafter. If a horse is seriously lame, 
remove his shoes, if shod. As in most cases of injury or sprain 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 75 



there is inflammation, the first step necessary is to reduce it by 
the application of either hot or cold water. li a woiu.d is 
swollen and painful, hot water is generally preferable to cold 
>^ut If there is not much pain, cold water gives the best satis- 
faction ; and especially if a joint is the seat of injury, except in 
ca^e of rheumatism, and then hot water should always be used 
The best method of applying the water is to wrap the part to be 
fomented in several thicknesses of cloth, as an old blanket and 
then keep it wet for several hours. Hot water should always be 
as hot as the hand can bear it. To use it only luke-warm is a 
waste of time. If cold water can be applied with force, as with 
a hose. It has a good effect. When neither cloths nor force 
can be used, salt may be added to the water, or vinegar and salt 
mav be used instead of water and s.dt. It should be applied hot 
but should not be boiled in mixing. Occasionally a case of 
lameness will subside after the inflammation has been removed 
and no other treatment be needed; but most cases r^^quire 
additional treatment, either to complete the cure or to prevent 
a return of the lameness. 

As some of the blisters, liniments, etc., will be used in a 
number of different cases throughout the treatment of lameness 
the mode of preparation will not be given each time, but in order 
to save space, only the name of the remedy and the manner of 
application will be given, and the formula, method of preparing 
and instructions for general use will be found in the article 
headed, Medicines, and How to Mix Them, near the beginning 
of this work. 

Sweeny. 

Sweeny, sometimes called -shoulder slip," is of common 
occurence in young horses, especially when put to work bv the 
side of an older and stronger horse. It is due to injury of the 



76 THE farmer's ready reference. 

muscles which pass down over the outside of the shoulder blade ; 
occasionally other muscles are involved. 

SYMPT03IS. — The animal sometimes tries to favor the in- 
jured shoulder in pulling; when out of the harness there is a 
dragging or swinging motion to the leg ; when weight is put 
upon the leg in walking, there is a bulging out of the shoulder 
joint In the course of a week the muscles of the shoulder will 
begin to waste away. 

Treatment.— If there is undue heat about the shoulder, 
shower the affected part several times a day with cold water 
until the inflammation subsides; then, if the muscles have not 
commenced to shrink, apply the following twice a day down the 
shoulder blade and around the joint : Distilled extract of witch 
hazel, tincture of arnica and spirits of camphor, equal parts, 
mixed. If the muscles are shrunken apply the ammoniacal 
liniment to the same parts twice a day, rubbing it in well until 
the skin becomes sore, then stop a few days, when the liniment 
should be repeated. Give complete rest until all lameness 
ceases, then light driving will not hurt him. 

Capped Elbow. 

Sometimes it happens that the horse while lying down in 
the stall will bruise the point of the elbow so severely as to cause 
a soft, puffy tumor to form. If attended to at once it will gen- 
erally yield to copious applications of hot or cold water ; but if 
allowed to remain for some time it will be necessary to open it, 
and the best way is to pass a seaton through it from top to 
bottom. Some digestive should be used on the seaton, as can- 
tharidine ointment or turpentine and oil. If the tumor becomes 
hard, it is best to dissect it out, and this will require some skill. 
In any case it will be necessary to remove the cause to prevent 
a return of the tumor. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 77 

Elbow Joint Lameness. 

This form of lameness is not of very frequent occurrence, 
but is very serious when it does occur. It may result from a fall, 
but is generally the result of getting the foot fast and twisting 
the joint. The horse will be very lame, will scarcely use the leg, 
and backs with great diflftculty; the joint will also be swollen 
and painful. 

Treatment.— Give complete rest ; reduce the inflammation 

with cold water, then apply the ammoniacal liniment or a blister 

of cantharides made of one part of powdered cantharides and six 

parts of lard or vaseline The horse must be given ample time 

to recover before going to work, or there is danger of a return of 

the lameness. 

Knee Joint Lameness. 

Injury to the knee joint may occur in various ways. As a 
sprain it may be from stepping in a hole ; but bruises and cuts 
of the knee often happen from falling on rough, frozen or rocky 
ground, and from striking the knee against some hard object 
when running. 

SY3fPT0MS.— If a sprain, there will be heat, swelling and 
stiffness of the joint ; and in walking there will be a shoving 
motion of the leg as if trying to bend the knee joint as little as 
possible. Bruises and cuts are apparent and need no other 
explanation 

TREAT3IENT — If a Sprain, reduce the swelling as much as 
possible, then apply a blister made of one part biniodide of 
mercury and six of lard or vaseline. Bruises and cuts should 
have an application two or three times a day of White Lotion. 
This not only heals the cuts, but it also removes the soreness 
from the contused parts. If the cut should happen to be deep 
enough to open the synovial sac and allow the escape of the 
"' joint water," see Open Joint. 



78 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Knee Sprung. 

This is not a disease, but only a symptom of some disease, as 
sore tendons, bruised heels, corns or some other affection, to 
relieve which the horse stands with his knees bent forward. 
Examine for the cause and, when ascertained, see treatment 
under its pmper heading. 

Splint. 

A splint is a bony enlargement located between the large 
bone [metacarpal) of the leg below the knee and one of the small 
splint bones located on the back part of the large bone. It is 
generally located on the inside of the leg and is then due to con- 
cussion from traveling on hard roads ; but it may come on the 
outside of the leg from an injury, as a blow or a kick. Its 
seriousness depends upon its location. If it is near the knee 
joint the lameness is often severe ; but if not located near a joint 
the lameness is generally trifling. 

Symptoms. — In walking the animal may not limp much, but 
will show it plainly in trotting. The lameness is most severe 
before the enlargement begins to show, but there will be heat in 
the part and the horse will flinch upon pressure with the fingers. 
When the enlargement begins to grow it can be easily seen as 
well as felt. 

Treatment. — If discovered before the enlargement begins, 
shower daily with cold water, and if the lameness continues after 
the inflammation has been reduced, apply the biniodide of 
mercury blister, repeating in four weeks if the lameness con- 
tinues. If there is an enlargement accompanied by lameness, 
the treatment will be the same ; but if there is no lameness, only 
the blister need be applied, and that will do very little good, as 
the enlargement cannot be reduced much. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 79 

Pastern Joint. 

This includes both the fetlock joint and the joint immedi- 
ately below it. Sprain of these joints is not very frequent. It 
may be known by lameness, heat and swelling of the parts; and 
the animal will also point the foot to relieve it from the weight 
of the body. 

Treatment.— Is just the same as in other joints, viz : Hot 
or cold water applications, liniments, blisters and complete rest. 

Wind Galls. 

These are puffy tumors and may come on any part of the 
limbs where a tendon plays through a sheath. They are an 
undue enlargement of some part of the sheath which becomes 
tilled with synovial fluid. Si)me recommend puncturing wind 
galls and allowing the escape of the fluid ; but this is not always 
advisable ; a puncture near a joint might result seriously. 

Treatment.— -Bathing with cold water and pressure by 
bandages, followed by blister, will be the safest. Old, long- 
standing cases are incurable with any treatment. 

Quarter and Toe Crack. 

These two are the same in character, the different names 
only indicating the part of the foot affected. They are due to a 
dry and brittle condition of the hoof. They may be only very 
slight, causing little or no lameness ; but sometimes they pene- 
trate to the sensitive part of the foot and cause serious lameness. 

Treatment.— The crack should be carefully cleaned out 
with a hoof-knife, cutting away the edge of the wall on each 
side of the crack, but not wounding the sensitive tissue in the 
bottom. A cut should then be made at a right angle with and 
across the top of the crack reaching into the quick, to prevent 
the crack from extending further up the hoof. A warm, flax- 



80 THE farmer's ready reference. 

seed meal poultice should then be kept on the foot, changing it 
once a day for a week. At the end of a week the poultice can be 
omitted and a cantharidine blister applied around the coronet ; 
and the crack should be kept tilled with an ointment made of 
pine tar, one part, and tallow, two parts. The horse must be 
given complete rest and should not be put to work until the new 
growth is well under headway. 

Corns, 

Corns are bruises of the sensitive part of the sole of the foot 
in the angle formed by the junction of the bar and the wall. 
They are the result of undue pressure from the shoe, sometimes- 
caused by improper shoeing, but. just as often caused by leaving 
the shoe on the foot too long, with a mistaken idea of saving 
expenses. 

Symptoms.— Lameness, especially on hard ground ; the 
h(jrse will point the foot when standing. Tak-:i up the foot and 
tap it with a hammer or try it all around with a pair of pinchers 
and the horse will show signs of pain when you touch the tender 
spot. If you remove the shoe and clean out the angles, the 
bottom of the hoof in the angle is generally tinged with blood. 

Treatment.— Remove the shoe and dress down the heel ; 
clean out the angles and cut down carefully ; if there is pus, cut 
away enough of the sole to give it free exit. But if it is dry, do 
not cut to the quick, but only thin it down. Cut away the wall 
slightly to let the frog down on the ground. If pus has formed, 
after evacuating it hold the foot up and fill the angle full of 
muriatic acid or muriate of antimony. Apply a warm linseed- 
meal poultice every day till the tenderness is removed, then fill 
the angle with cotton saturated with pine tar to keep out 
foreign matter ; the tar is also beneficial to the foot. After the 
sole at the seat of the corn has become somewhat hardened the 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 81 

bhoe may be replaced, but the foot should be so dressed as to 
relieve the corn of all pressure, or it will return again. Horses 
that are subject to corns will be greatly benefitted by allowing 
them to go withi ut shoes as much as possible, and even then 
the heels should be dressed down occasionally to let the frog 
upon the ground, and the angles should also be cleaned out. 

Seedy Toe. 

Seedy toe is a dry, brittle condition of the hoof in which it 
crumbles away in very small particles. It is sometimes called 
'' dry rot." It is due to a faulty secretion of the h'of, the result 
of other diseases. 

Treatment.— Endeavor to get the foot in a healthy con- 
dition by poulticing, soaking, blistering the coronet and by 
applications of oil of tar to the wall, etc. It will require some 
time to replace the diseased part with healthy hoof. 

Sprain of the Back Tendons. 

Sprain of the back tendons of the leg {flexors perforatus and 
perforans) may occur from hard driving, especially on uneven 
ground, or it may come from heavy pulling. Allowing the toe 
of the foot to grow long, thus increasing the leverage, will make 
sprain of the back tendons more liable to occur. 

Symptoms.— There will be heat and swelling, and the horse 
will show signs of pain if the tendons are pressed with the 
fingers. There will be lameness when traveling and it will be 
just the same on soft ground as on hard ground. 

Treatment.— Have the animal shod with high heels and 
no toe calks, and apply cold water several times a day until all 
inflammation is removed. A blister made of equal parts of the 
biniodide of mercury and cantharidine blisters combined should 
be applied and repeated again in three or four weeks. Complete 



82 THE farmer's ready reference. 

rest should be given the horse, not only while lame, but for sev- 
eral months, to allow the tendons to grow strong before he is put 
to work again. If blisters fail to relieve ihe lameness, the firing- 
iron should be applied ; but this requires some experience to 
perform properly and should only be entrusted to a competent 
veterinarian. 

Sprain of the Suspensory Ligament. 

This ligament lies between tlie flexor tendons and the back 
part of the bone of the leg from the knee downward. A sprain 
of the suspensory ligament is more serious than a sprain of the 
back tendons. Symptoms and treatment are the same as for 
the back tendons Firing and long rest will sometimes effect a 
cure in these cases when everything else has failed 

Navicular Disease. 

Navicular disease, sometim-es called coffin-joint lameness, 
occurs among horses that are used for hard and fast driving 
upon the roads. If it is of long standing it is incurable. 

Symptobis.— It is not always easily diagnosed by the inex- 
perienced. There will be lameness, sometimes only on starting, 
then it will disappear : if you hold the foot up and tap with a 
hammer on or near the frog the horse will flinch : if the disease 
is of long standing the affected limb will have a neat, clean 
appearance and the hoof will be smaller than its mate. 

Treatment.— If the lameness is of only recent occurrence 
a cure may sometimes be effected. Remove the shoe and apply 
hot poultices to the foot until the hoof is thoroughly softened, 
then rasp down the wall, making the toe the lowest, and dress 
out the sole. Fix a tub or tank with cold water and stand the 
horse in this five or six hours each day for two or three weeks. 
After this has been done apply the biniodide of mercuiy blister 



THE farmp:r's ready reference. 83 



to the coronet often enough to keep it just moderately sore for 
two months. Shoeing with swelled heels to relieve the foot of 
frog pressure will sometimes prove beneficial. 

Hipped. 

Hipped or '' down in the hip " is when the point of the hip 
{a7iterior illiac spine) has become broken off, making that side 
of the hips have a drooping appearance. It is generally the 
result of a fall or a blow from running through a stable door and 
striking against a post. Treatment is not often necessary 
unless an ulcer forms and then the only course is to cut down 
upon the loose l>one and remove it. If there is no ulcer the parts 
may be bathed occasionally with cold water to prevent inflam- 
mation. 

Sprain of the Hip Joint. 

The hip joint, although not so liable to injury as some other 
parts, occasionally becomes injured from slipping upon icy roads 
or from stepping upon some rolling object ; it is sometimes quite 
serious and, in cases, incurable. 

SYMPT03is.-It is not always easily diagnosed. In trotting 
the step will be rather shorter than natural and the entire leg 
will be brought forward with a slightly outward swing, as if 
consisting of one piece. There may be soreness in the joint and 
signs of pain upon pressure, but this is uncertain, as some horses 
will flinch when there is no soreness. After it has gone on for 
some time there will be wasting of the muscles over the joint. 

TREATiiiENT.-There must be complete rest in a roomy box 
stall ; or, if it is in the summer, he may be turned out to pasture 
as he will require a long rest to grow sound. The muscles over 
and around the hip joint should have an application of ammoni- 
acal liniment, well rubbed in, two or three times a day till the 
skin becomes sore ; then a little clean lard should be rubbed on 



84 THE farmer's ready reference. 

and left for a few days until the soreness is all gone from the 
skin, when the liniment should be repeated. The biniodide of 
mercury blister is used by some instead of the liniment, but I 
prefer the liniment. If liniment and blisters fail to relieve the 
lameness, either a deep seaton should be inserted or sub-cutan- 
eous cautery may be employed, but neither of these operntions 
should be undertaken by anyone but a competent veterinarian. 

Stifled. 

The term " stifled," as applied by common usage, has refer- 
ence only to the patella or cap on the front part of ihe stifle joint. 
The patella slips from its position in front to the outside of the 
joint. It may happen from slipping in traveling; but it most 
frequently takes place when the horse is standing in the stable. 
It is due to weakness of the ligaments which hold the patella in 
place. It frequently follows some debilitating disease, as stran- 
gles, influenza, etc. 

Symptoms cannot pass unseen, as the animal walks with 
great difficulty as long as the dislocation continues. The stifle 
joint cannot be flexed, the leg extending slightly backward and 
only brought forward with an outward swing without bending 
the stifle joint, making progress very slow. 

Treatment.— First, get the patella into its proper position. 
Sometimes this can be done by simply drawing the leg forward 
with one hand and working the patella with the other ; but 
usually it is necessary to place a rope around the ankle and have 
an assistant draw forward on it while the operator endeavors to 
get the patella in place. Stand just back of the stifle facing the 
horse and, with the palm of the hand, push or strike lightly 
against the patella, and it will go into position with a sharp 
click and the leg can be brought forward and flexed without 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 85 

difficulty. A strap can then be fastened bj' one end to the 
animaFs fetlock and the other to a collar or strap around the 
shoulders allowing the foot to go back even with the other one, 
but no farther. Another way to keep it in place is to buckle a 
strap around the affected limb just above the hock, making it 
just tight enough to keep the animal from putting his weight on 
the leg. The ammoniacal liniment should be well rubbed in on 
the inside and front of the stifle joint, but not on the outside. 
Apply it every two hours until the skin is well thickened up and 
tender, then the appliances to hold the leg forward can be 
removed. As soon as all irritation leaves the skin the liniment 
can he applied again if necessary. 

Sprain of the Stifle Joint. 

Sprain of the stifle joint proper may come from slipping and 
falling, or it may come from pulling in deep, sticky mud. 

Symptoms.— The horse stands with the leg flexed and the 
stifle dropping forward and downward. There will be lameness 
in both walking and trotting, and the leg moves stiff and stilty, 
as if too long for its mate. 

Treatment.— Reduce the inflammation with either hot or 
cold water, and then apply the ammoniacal liniment three times 
a day to both inside and outside of the stifle joint. The horse 
must have complete rest from work until entirely recovered. 

Sprain of the Flexor Metatarsi. 

This muscle is situated at the outer edge of the front part of 
the hind leg between the stifle and the hock joint. A severe 
sprain and even a rupture sometimes takes place from slipping 
in heavy pulling. 

Symptoms.— The lameness is very great and accompanied by 
the most excruciating pain. The animal cannot bring the leg 



86 THE FARMER^S READY REFERENCE. 

forward and in attempting to walk breaks down in the lame leg 
at every step, the pain causing profuse sweating and trembling 
of the entire body. When the animal raises the foot from the 
ground the leg swings backward, causing the skin on the back 
part of the thigh to be thrown up in loose folds. 

Treatment.— Endeavor first to allay the pain. Give one or 
two ounces of laudanum in three times its bulk of water. You 
cannot drench unless you can do it while the animal is down. 
Bathe the front part of the thigh with hot water, then apply 
laudanum, fluid extract of lobelia, camphor or anything else at 
hand to relieve the pain. After twenty-four to forty-eight hours 
when the pain has subsided apply a cantliaridine bhster down 
the front of the leg from the stifle to tlie hock, but do not make 
it too severe. The blister may need to be repeated in two or 
three weeks. Give the animal complete rest in a box stall ; do 
not tie it up. Mild cases recover in a month or two ; very 
severe cases may take a year or more. 

Bone Spavin. 

A bone spavin is a bony enlargement on the inner part of 
the hock joint. There are several things to be taken into con- 
sideration before deciding as to the curability of a bone spavin. 
If the enlargement is low down, not of long standing and only 
lame at starting and ceasing after becoming warmed up, the 
prospect to cure it is favorable. But if it is located high up, 
involving the entire joint, or is of very long standing and the 
horse old, or if the lameness does not grow less after being 
warmed up, then there is little prospect of making a cure. 

SY3IPT0MS. — If the enlargement is of good size it can be 
plainly seen. In trotting there will be dropping of the hip, and 
the step on the lame side will be shorter than on the other; if 
the animal is working let it stand for several hours and then 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 87 



start off lively; there will be lameness, probably touching the toe 
first then easing down on the foot and after going a short dis- 
tance the lameness will almost or entirely disappear. When 
standing the foot is rested forward of the other, and sometimes 
with the heel resting against it. There is not much soreness or 
pressure 

Treatment —If taken in the beginning, sometimes com- 
plete rest in the stable with a biniodide of mercury blister ap- 
plied once in three weeks for several applications will cure it; 
but few confirmed cases of bone spavin can be cured short of 
the free use of the tiring iron in the hands of an expert. In 
either the blister or the use of the firing iron the horse should 
remain in the stable for the first month and then have at least 
two more months to run idle before putting to work. 

Bog Spavin. 

A bog spavin, so called because it is soft, is a puffy tumor 
situated on the hock joint just above and a little to the front of 
the seat of bone spavin. It is an over-distention of the capsular 
ligament with synovial fluid generally caused by a sprain. 
Many horses of the heavy breeds with large beefy hocks are pre- 
disposed to it and often it does not seem to hurt them. It does 
not always cause lameness but when it does it is generally more 
serious than in bone spavin, as it is more likely to involve the 
upper part of joint. 

Treatment.— If there is heat and swelling about the hock 
Joint reduce it with cold applications, then follov^^ with the treat- 
ment prescribed for bone spavin. If there is no lameness, but 
only a puffy tumor without heat or swelling, and the tumor is of 
long standing it will do no good to treat it. 

Thoroughpin. 

This generally accompanies bog spavin, but not always. It 



88 THE farmer's ready reference. 

is a soft putty tumor on each side of the hock near the back part. 

It seldom produces lameness. Treatment is the same as for 

bog spavin. A bog spavin and thoroughpin truss may be 

applied. 

Occult Spavin. 

Sometimes there will be lameness, with all the symptoms 
which characterize bone spavin, but there will be neither the 
bony enlargement of bone spavin nor the soft, putty tumor of 
bog spavin. This is called an occult or ''blind spavin." The 
treatment to be employed is that prescribed in bone spavin. 

Curb. 

A curb is a sprain of a ligament {calcaneo-cuboid) at the back 
part of the hock. It frequently occurs in attempting to back a 
heavy load, especially in deep mud or snow. It also comes from 
jerking the bridle-bit and throwing a horse back upon his 
haunches. Some hocks are loosely built and naturally rounding 
on the back part ; such are more liable to curb than those of a 
more compact form 

Symptoms.— There will be more or less enlargement at the 
back part of the hock and it will be hot and painful upon 
pressure. There will also be lameness and the horse will be 
inclined to walk upon the toe. 

Treatment.— The first thing to do is to have a shoe put 
upon the foot of the lame leg with heel calks three-quarters of ah 
inch or more high and no toe calks ; this is to relieve the injured 
part of all tension and is imperative The next step is to apply 
cold water to the part until all inflammation is removed In 
some very mild cases this is all that is necessary ; but if lame- 
ness or the enlargement either one continues, apply the biniodide 
of mercury blister. Allow the high-heeled shoe to remain on 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 89 

for tour or five weeks or until all lameness ceases. If necessary, 

repeat the blister. 

Capped Hock. 

This is an enlargement on the point of the liock, the result 
of external injury. Its most common cause is kicking against 
the side of the stall in the stable. At first the enlargement is 
soft Hud tilled with bloody w^ater, but it allowed to continue for 
a long time it becomes hard and calloused. 

Treatment. — If taken at first when it is hot and painful, 
foment for an hour or more with hot water, then wipe dry and 
bathe thoroughly with the following : Tincture of arnica, aqua 
ammonia and distilled extract of witch hazel, equal parts, mixed. 
When the pain has been relieved, change to cold water, applying 
it only once a day, but apply the liniment three times a day. If 
absorption does not take place, the tumor may be punctured and 
tlien syringed out daily with carbolic acid, four drachms, and 
water, one pint. If after a time it becomes hard and calloused, 
the only resort is to have it dissected out, but this will require a 
veterinarian. 

Acute Founder or Laminitis. 

Founder (?ammiiis) is an inflammation involving the sensi- 
tive part of the foot contained inside the horny wall. It is 
sometimes the result of hard driving and pounding on the hard 
roads ; but it also comes from gorging with food, drinking too 
much water while warm, or, as a sequel to some other disease, 
etc. 

Symptoms.— The symptoms of acute founder are well 
marked and need not be mistaken. There will be full bounding 
pulse, rapid breathing, high temperature, and an anxious look 
about the eyes, indicating the most intense suffering. But the 
most prominent symptom is the manner of standing and walk- 



90 THE farmer's ready reference. 

mg. The fore feet will be set forward and the weight of the 
body will be thrown back upon the hind feet to relieve the fore 
feet. The horse wiil not back, and if made to move forward, 
supports almost the entire weight of the body upon the hind feet, 
and moves with great difficulty. He will stand in the position 
described, letting himself back a little further all the time until 
at last completely worn out, he drops down and remains most of 
the time in a recumbent position. 

Treatment.- If the horse is lying down, remove the shoes 
(it cannot be done while standing). Give a full dose of aloes at 
once and give half-ounce doses of nitrate of potash every four 
hours for twenty-four to thirty- six hours, then continue the same 
dose three times a day for a week After removing th^ shoes, 
put flaxseed-meal poultices on the feet ; have them as hot as can 
be borne without burning, and keep them so by the addition of 
hot water every half hour. As soon as the bowels have moved 
freely and the extreme pain has subsided the bottoms of the feet 
should be trimmed, dressing away the wall to let the frog and 
sole down on the ground and relieve the pressure from the wall. 
The poultices should be continued until the horse can walk 
fairly well on his feet, then omitted, and a sharp cantharidine 
blister should be applied around the coronet. After the bowels 
have been opened the horse should be fed moderately upon soft 
feed. Sometimes founder comes from driving a horse when the 
bowels are loose and causing scouring ; in that case a dose of 
raw linseed oil, witli an ounce or two of laudanum added, should 
be given instead of the aloes. 

Chronic Founder or Laminitist 

When a case of acute founder has been neglected or im- 
properly treated, or when there have been repeated attacks, the 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 91 



sensitive structures of the feet become permanently changed 
and we have chronic founder orlaminitis. 

Symptoms.— The hoofs become dry and brittle and the horse 
walks with ashon, mincing step, and if the disease is well 
advanced he tries to throw his weight upon the heels of the 
affected feet. If the bottoms of the feet are examined there will 
often be found a partial separation of the wall from the sole. 

TR1SAT3IENT.— Treatment can only be palliative. Remove 
the shoes and poultice the feet to remove the soreness, then 
apply the cantharidiiie blister around the coronet and turn the 
horse out on wet ground for a week or two if possible. In shoe- 
ing, the sole of the foot should not be cut away to allow the shoe 
to rest entirely upon the wall. A bar shoe to bring pressure 
upon the frog generally gives the best satisfaction. 

Pumiced Foot. 

So-called ''pumiced foot " is a condition in which the sole 
drops down or becomes convex because of the pressure of the 
coffin bone in its descent. It is the result of severe and repeated 
attacks of laminitis, undue cutting of the wall and sole in shoe- 
ing, etc. 

Treatment can only be applied in a palliative way. Cold 
water may be applied in any way to control the inflammation, 
and either a wide, concaved-seating shoe or a w^ell-fitted bar shoe 
should be applied. Such a horse may do service at slow work on 
the farm but will never do to drive on the roads. 

Nail Punctures and Bruises. 

Horses are always more or less liable to injuries to the feet 
from nails and sharp stones. Nail punctures are most liable to 
occur to horses driven upon the streets and alleys of cities, 
while cuts and bruises from sharp stones happen oftenest on 



92 THE farmer's ready reference. 

country roads and in work upon the farm As the liability to 
such injuries is so great, the foot should always be examined 
before a decision is given, no matter what other symptoms of 
lameness may be exhibited. 

Treatment —If there is a shoe on the foot, remove it; 
dress out the sole until the point of injury is found, then remove 
any foreign body that may be there and also remove enough of 
the sole to make a free outlet for the discharge ; apply a little 
turpentine to the wound, then place the foot in a flaxseed-meal 
poultice for a day or two until the tenderness is removed, then 
omit the poultice but clean out the opening through the sole 
once a day and fill it with cotton saturated with pine tar. 
When the sole has formed over tlie wound again the shoe can be 
put on and the animal will be ready for work. More serious and 
permanent injuries result from neglect in wounds of the foot 
than from any other class. Seemingly slight, at first, they are 
given little attention, probably forgotten. Sometimes the lame- 
ness may be very slight for a few days then grow suddenly 
worse; the foot becomes hot and painful ; pus forms and, hav- 
ing no outlet, burrows under the horn until the entire sole of the 
foot frequently has to be removed and the animal is unable to 
work for weeks Neglected nail punctures often produce quittor. 
And tetanus, or lockjaw, is more liable to follow from neglect 
of wounds of the feet than from wounds on any other part of 
the animal. 

Quittor. 

Quittor may be defined as fistula of the foot. It is a fistulous 
opening formed in the sensitive part of the foot between the 
internal structures and the horny wall. It may come from nail 
punctures, bruises or any other wounds of the foot, especially it 
neglected and the pus allowed to burrow. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 93 

Symptoms.— It begins with a hard and painful swelling at 
the top of the hoof, which breaks open in time and discharges 
pus. Sometimes the entire coronet will swell and openings will 
form in different places; pipes form and the openings will not 
heal. 

TREAT3IENT.— Remove the shoe and cut in from the bottom 
of the foot to ascertain if the pus cavity reaches low down. If 
an exit for the pus can be found below, the sinuses may not have 
to be opened above. But if nothing can be reached from the 
bottom, probe the sinuses from above and open them up care- 
fully, cutting through the walls of the hoof if necessary, only 
take good care not to divide the coronary ligament at the top of 
the hoof. When they are all open, syringe into them once a day 
till all unhealthy growth is destroyed, a little of the following : 
Chloride of zinc, one drachm; water, one ounce ; mix. If the 
dead tissues do not slough out readily apply poultices for a day 
or two ; powdered charcoal dusted over the poultice will add to 
its cleansing effect. When the sore is healthy dissolve four 
drachms of chloride of zinc in one pint of water and use as a 
daily dressing and it will heal readily. 

Thrush. 

Thrush is an irritation that takes place first in the cleft of 
the frog and the deep fissures at the sides of the frog and, if 
allowed to run on, the entire frog becomes undermined and dis- 
eased. It is most common in the hind feet and is generally due 
to standing in wet and filthy stables. It can be easily recognized 
by the fetid smell when the foot is cleaned. 

Treatment.— Remove the shoe ; clean the foot thoroughly 
and remove any loose parts of frog that may cover a diseased 
part. If the case is only an ordinary one, dissolve one ounce of 
sulphate of copper in one pint of water and saturate the affected 



94 THE farmer's ready reference. 

part with it once a day for two or three days, then press the 

crevices full of cotton saturated witl) pine tar. In severe cases 

it may be necessary to so;ik the foot two or three hours a day for 

a couple of days in the following : Sulphate of copi»er, one 

pound; warm water, five gallons; then saturate the affected 

part once a day with the following : Chloride of zinc, four 

drachms ; water, one pint ; and as soon as the parts begin to 

harden, the zinc should be omitted and the tar and cotton used 

as before. 

Gravel. 

Sometimes when horses are barefooted and the sole of the 
hoof worn thin, small gravel will break through the sole and 
work up along the inside of the horny wall. If not removed the 
gravel will continue to work upward until it comes out above 
the hoof and may terminate in quittor if not attended to. 

Symptoms.— In the beginning there will be lameness, as 
from a nail puncture or bruise of the sole. If the sole of the 
foot is pressed with a pair of pinchers the tender part may be 
located and, if not gone too far, the gravel may be found and 
removed ; but, if not removed, in a week or two a slight swelling 
and tenderness may be seen at the top of the hoof. 

Treatment. — If the gravel can be located at first and 
removed from the bottom, poultice the foot and treat as for 
bruise or puncture. But if the swelling begins to show at the 
top keep the foot in warm poultices to hasten the outlet at the 
top. When it breaks syringe it out carefully with carbolized 
water and endeavor to get it open below where the gravel 
entered. If this can be kept open it will soon heal. But if not 
it will have to be treated the same as quittor. 

Canker. 

Canker is an obstinate disease which may follow a neglected 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 95 

case of any of the diseases in which the sole or wall becomes 
broken or destroyed, and tlie sensitive parts become involved. 
Filth also is a very active factor in producing it. It sometimes 
starts from grease heel. 

Symptoms — A spongy, fungus growth springs up from some 
old wound about the foot, making the horse lame. It is hard to 
control and if cut away soon grows out again. It sometimes 
grows up in leaves or flakes and bleeds very easily. 

Treatment.— Cut away all that can be reached with the 
knife and control the bleeding by searing with a hot iron or by 
applying tincture of iron and binding it up in cotton till next 
day. When all bleeding has been stopped take chloride of zinc 
and add Just enough water to dissolve it ; apply it freely, and 
saturate cotton with the zinc solution and bind on the part, 
keeping it there for twenty-four hours. When the fungus 
growth has been completely destroyed, dust the sore once a day 
with calomel and cover with cotton saturated with pine tar and 
apply pressure. If the fungus growth begins to start up again 
dust it over with powdered blue vitriol If you are persevering 
you may succeed in curing it, but it will take time. 

Calks. 

Where horses are kept shod, and especially when working 
on the farm in soft ground, they are liable to injuries from the 
shoe calks. These are often quite severe and, if neglected, may 
become serious. They should be cleansed with warm water and, 
if swollen and painful, a warm poultice should be applied until 
relief is obtained. It may then be syringed out two or three 
times a day with White Lotion. This is better while the sore is 
open and raw, as it will not gather dirt as a greasy ointment 
would do. 



96 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Ringbone. 

Ringbone is the name given to an enlargement or bony 
growtli wliicli forms about tlie pastern. Sometimes it is located 
at the upper and f-ometimes at the lower joint when it is the 
more serious. As the enlargement often extends almosc around 
the limb it has received the name of ringbone. It may come 
from a sprain or anything else that could cause irritation in the 
joint. It may result from inflammation caused by a wire cut 
near the joint ; and in some instances it is due to hereditary 
influence. 

SY3IPT03IS.— If there is an enlargement it is plain to the eye ; 
and sometimes there will be enlargement without lameness. 
But there are cases in which the enlargement is very small, yet 
the animal is quite lame, and it will require careful scrutiny to 
locate it. There will be unusual heat about the joint, and pain 
upon pressure to the parts with the fingers; there will be lame- 
ness when first starting out which will grow better and may 
disappear on warming up ; but it will return as soon as the 
animal is allowed to stand long enough to cool oft", But there 
are cases in which the lameness does not decrease by warming 
up, and such cases are generally incurable. 

Treatment. — In many cases it is not satisfactory. If there 
is simply enlargement without lameness, treatment is not only 
unnecessary but useless, as the enlargement cannot be removed. 
If the lameness is noticed in the beginning, before the bony 
deposit has begun to form, apply cold water to the part two or 
three hours a day till inflammation has been removed, then 
apply the Biniodide of Mercury Blister once every three or four 
weeks until three applications have been given. The animal 
should be in the stable and walk as little as possible during 
treatment. If there is no improvement under this treatment the 



THE FAKMER's ready REFERENCE. 97 



only resort is the firing iron in the hands of a competent veteri- 
narian. 

Side Bones. 

These are enlargements just above the top of the hoof near 
the back part of the quarter. They are the ossification, or 
changing into bone, of the lateral cartilages that surround and 
extend back from the wings of the coffin bone. There may be 
one on each side of the foot or it may be only on one side. They 
may also be on one or both feet. There will be lameness, but it 
is not so serious as ringbone. 

T^REAT3iENT.— The shoe must be removed and the hoof cut 
away underneath the enlargement ; if the frog strikes the ground 
all the better. If there is much inflammation reduce it with cold 
water, and it would be well to stand the feet in cold water for 
several hours each day for several days until the unnatural heat 
is all gone. Then apply the Biniodide of Mercury Blister and 
repeat in three weeks. Give the horse complete rest. 

Contraction. 

Contraction is not a disease itself but is only the result of 
long favoring of the foot from some disease. Corns, navicular 
disease, disease of the tendons or any other disease that causes 
the foot or leg to be favored or rested often will in time cause 
contraction of the hoof. 

Treatment consists in locating and removing the cause, 
whatever it may be, and bringing the foot into natural use, and 
it will assume its proper size as the new growth appears. 

Cocked Ankles. 

Cocked ankles, also called knuckling, is only a symptom of 
disease in some part of the leg or foot. Sore heels, sore tendons, 
rheumatism in the joint and other diseases will cause knuckling, 



98 THE farmer's ready reference. 

and the true cause should first be found and then treatment for 
it can be found under its proper heading. 

Dislocations. 

Dislocation of a joint in the horse is not of very common 
occurrence, although it may happen sometimes. When it does 
take place it is generally serious, as the violence required to 
cause a dislocation of the joint is generally so great as to rupture 
the ligaments surrounding it. In all cases of dislocation we 
advise calling a veterinarian as promptly as possible, as a knowl- 
edge of the anatomy of the parts to be treated is necessary to 
success. If no veterinarian can be found, the animal may be 
secured and the reduction of the dislocation attempted, govern- 
ing the operation as the case demands, as no special rules can be 
laid down that would be of material benefit to the inexperienced. 
When the parts are brought into position they may be held in 
place by bandaging as in fracture. 

Fractures. 

Horses are always more or less liable to fractures of bones, 
both of limbs and body. They occur from falls, from kicks from 
other animals and from running against solid bodies, etc. 
Fractures are of different degrees of severity, and upon this and 
their location depends the degree of success in treatment. If 
only the bone is fractured with little or no displacement, that 
much is favorable, but if the bone is badly shattered, the skin 
and muscles torn and splinters of bone piercing through, the 
case is hopeless. As the treatment of fracture requires the skill 
of an experienced practitioner to ensure anything like success, 
space will not be taken here for more than a few general hints. 
Fracture is easily recognized by the extreme lameness and by the 
grating sound produced by the bones when the limb is moved 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 99 

with the hand. When a fracture is known to exist, a veteri- 
narian should be called at once if it is desired to save the animal. 
If it must be attempted by a novice, then get some strips of 
muslin, some starch, some splints and also some cotton. Get 
the ends of the bones into position, then smear the skin and hair 
with starch and wind the bandage around it, applying the starch 
to the bandage as it is wound on the limb ; level any uneven 
places up with the cotton by putting it between the layers of the 
bandrige, and when four or five layers of the muslin have been 
put on, place one of the splints on each side and one behind, but 
none in front, and apply more of the bandage and starch. TLe 
horse may be placed in slings or not as he seems to do best. 
Some horses do better out of slings. If the limb swells, the 
bandage should be slit in at the end where the swelling is worst. 
The bandage should be left on six weeks in an ordinary case, and 
then cut away carefully. 

Open Joint. 

Sometimes when a wound is near a joint the synovial sac is 
opened and the synovial fluid (joint water) is allowed to escape 
and then it becomes more serious. If the sac has only been 
punctured with some sharp-pointed instrument, and the bone 
has not been injured, it is not so serious as when the sac has 
been laid open to some extent and the surrounding tissues badly 
lacerated. If the irritation is sufficient to cause the formation 
of pus in the joint, the articular cartilage becomes destroyed and 
the only hope of a cure lies in anchylosis (union of the bones) and 
making the joint stiff. Sometimes, where there is great lacera- 
tion of the tissues, sloughing sets in, fever runs high, the 
appetite fails and the poor animal suffers such pain that it is an 
act of mercy to kill it and put it out of misery. 

Treatment.— If there is a punctured wound and open joint 



100 THE FAEMER's ready REFERENCE. 

is suspicioned, which will be from the flow of synovia, do not 
probe the wound to ascertain its depth, as this will only increase 
the irritation, but treat it only on supposition rather than 
destroy all chance of a cure by trying to learn the facts. Sponge 
the wound with carbolized water (one teaspoonful of acid to the 
pint of water) then mix together equal parts of flour and ground 
flaxseed and mix into a jioultice with boiling water. When thi-s 
gets cold spread it on a cloth and bind on the wound ; keep the 
animal as quiet as possible and change the poultice once a day. 
But if the wound is lacerated and pus begins to form, treat 
as follows : Take carbolic acid, one drachm ; glycerine, two 
drachms ; add flour enough to form a stiff paste. Cleanse the 
wound by injecting water over it carefully with a syringe, then 
make a plug of the paste and put it in the opening of the joint, 
then apply the poultice as before, only omit the flour and make 
it of pure ground flaxseed. This poultice and plug both must be 
changed twice a day until the pus ceases and clear synovia alone 
flows from the joint, when the plug of paste should be omitted 
and the flour added to the poultice again and applied as before 
until the opening is entirely closed. The horse must be kept as 
quiet as possible ; he should not be led out. but feed and water 
should be carried to him. 

Final Hints. 

All cases of lameness or injury should be attended to at 
once. A little (felay often precludes all possibility of a cure. 
Complete rest from labor should be given ; give the run of a box 
stall or small yard away from other animals. Pain increases 
thirst ; do not let an animal suffer for water. 



MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 



Castration. 



Although we are strougly in favor of the employment of 
either a veterinarian or a " professional castrator" to perform 
tids operation instead of giving the job to anyone who may have 
the ''cheek "to attempt it, especially when some one else fur- 
nishes the subject for the experiment, yet, as it is not always 
possible to obtain an experienced operator, we will give a few 
simple rules by which the owner may be able to do his own work 
in a case of necessity, together with hints from our own experi- 
ence in regard to the proper age and time of year at which to 
perform the operation. 

At What Age to Castrate. 

There is a great difference of opinion as to the age at which 
a colt should be castrated. Some writers, in high authority, 
advocate castration at any time a^ter the colt has become 
straightened up after birth or as soon as the testicles can be got 
hold of. Whilst others favor letting the colt run until two or 
even three years of age in order to obtain better development. 
We have castrated at all ages from the sucking colt of one month 
to the old stallion, and while we admit that the younger the colt 
the less the pain attending the operation, yet there is one serious 
objection to the operation at that age. It is well known that 
many young colts, either at birth or soon after, are affected with 
scrotal hernia— rupture of the inguinal region, allowing some 
part of the entrails to descend into the scrotum, which will be 



102 THE farmer's ready reference. 

treated under Rupture in Foals, and as we always examine the 
parts thoroughly before beginning the operation, we have found 
many cases in wliich, although there was no rupture, the parts 
appeared so weak as to be in danger of breaking through with 
the slightest struggling possible during the operation ; or, if not 
then, it would certainly take place during the weakened condi- 
tion from the slight inflammation that must necessarily follow 
the operation Castration at weaning time, providing the 
season is favorable, does not meet with this objection, as the 
parts have grown stronger, liut, unless there is some good 
reason for having the operation performed early, we consider the 
age of one year the best, and it should be done not later than 
two years old unless for some good reason. The development of 
the colt should always be taken into consideration as follows ; 
Beginning at the age of one year, if the fore and hind quarters 
are equally developed, any time up to the age of two years will 
do. If the fore quarters are heavy, the neck full and the hind 
quarters light, the sooner it is done tlie better. But, if the hind 
quarters are square and heavy and the fore quarters light and 
the neck low, the operation had better be deferred until the fore 
parts are more fully developed. 

Season. 

The writer has successfully castrated horses in almost every 
month in the year. Work done in January, with no more than 
ordinary care and stabling, gave good satisfaction. Work done 
during the hot weather of August was equally successful. Yet 
we think the spring and early summer months the most favor- 
able season for the operation. While on the other hand we think 
the most unfavorable time to be in the fall after the hot sun of 
an unusually-dry summer has converted the pools of stagnant 
water into beds of muck— regular cess-pools of filth and disease— 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 103 

and then a copious rainfall drenches tlie parched earth, the pools 
become tilled with fresh, cool, but nevertheless infectious water, 
inviting to stock but disease-producing withal. The once harm- 
less dead and dry vegetation, now moistened by the rain, begins 
to decay, and the atmosphere becomes rife with miasma from 
the putrefying mass. 

It is a well-know^n fact that in the human family typhoid 
and malarial fevers are more prevalent at certain seasons and 
during some years than at others. We also know that a ten- 
dency to gangrenous and septicemic complications makes the 
treatment of wounds more difficult at certain times than at 
others. And it is also well known by men wiio have followed 
castrating for a number of years that, without any apparent 
cause, some seasons the colts fail to do well. With these unde- 
niable facts staring us in the face, I have set about to tind the 
cause, and I have observed that a season of showers interspersed 
with hot, sultry sunshine at any time of the year is unfavorable 
to the healing of wounds from any cause, and when the poison- 
ous efluvia from decaying vegetation is added, the danger is ten- 
fold worse. 

Health, 

The condition of the animal as regards health is important. 
No animal should be castrated when it is affected with disease. 
The most prevalent disease among colts during the castrating 
season is strangles or colt distemper. He who castrates a colt 
with distemper invites trouble ; and he generally gets it. Neither 
should it be done when a colt is very thin in flesh. 

The Operation. 

If the bowels are not loose from running on grass the colt 
should have soft feed for a few days previous to the operation, 
and nothing for six hours preceeding it. With plenty of assist- 



lOJ: THE FAKMER's ready REFERENCE. 

ance at hand, east and tie kim securely, roll him p -rtly on his 
back and have an assistant to hold the hock of the uppermost 
leg out of the way. Examine for the testicles and take the one 
first that seems hardest to get. Grasp the testicle with the left 
hand and with a sharp knife cut half an inch frnm and parallel 
with the center line of the tcrotum. Cut the coverings carefully 
until the testicle comes out, but do not cut the testicle. Take 
care to make the incision in the scrotum of good length and 
well forward to prevent closing too soon. It is always best to 
expose both testicles before removing the first. There are 
different methods of preventing hemorrhage, each of which has 
been successful when properly manipulated. The old method of 
clamping has been used successfully for years. The testicle 
should be drawn down moderately and the clamps placed well 
up on the cord and closed with care to have sufiicient pressure 
on the artery to stop the blood. When both sides have been 
thus secured the cords should be severed with the kuife two or 
thiee inches below the clamp. 

Another method of securing the cord is by ligature. In this 
way of operating, a strong, waxed lint u thread is used to secure 
the artery instead of the clamps. 

But when properly used we consider the ecraseur the most 
humane treatment with which to secure the artery, as well as 
the most likely to be attended with success. But with this, as 
with the other methods, the proper way to learn to use it is from 
a successful operator m person and not from printed instructions; 
hence we will only give a few hints in regard to its use which 
may be of value even to those who have had some experience 
with the instrument. 

In the first place we have never seen a new ecraseur that 
did not have the inside of the chain, and sometimes the edges 
of the slot too sharp i it cuts clean without crushing, and bleed- 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 105 



ing ensues The remedy is to dull the edges with a small file. 

The instrument must be kept clean ; clots of blood must not 
be allowed to remain between the links of the chain. Wash in 
clean water after each operation and if convenient use carbolic 
acid in the water. 

In the operation turn the cord around until the artery is 
next the slot ; draw down the edges of the last covering of the 
testicles in the chain around the cord, then draw the chain up 
carefully until it crushes the artery but does not cut it ; now- 
slack the chain and slide it half an inch toward the testicle, 
then draw it up again until the cord is cut through. This double 
crushing makes the cord doubly secure and bleeding is im- 
possible. 

After either mode of operating a little carbolized sweet oil 
may be poured into each side of the scrotum and the animal 
released. 

We have not written to such length expecting to teach men 
to operate, but to enable stockowners to guard against un- 
scrupulous men with more gall than knowledge of the business, 
who, every spring, '' go about as a roaring lion seeking whom they 
may devour." They castrate in all kinds of weather ; they 
operate alike on sick and well, telling the owner that it will do a 
colt with distemper good to bleed him a little ; "■ it will give him 
a new start." And it generally does it— on his last journey. 

Employ only some one whom you know ; and whether he be 
a graduated veterinarian or only a professional castrator, let him 
be a man of experience and also with a reputation for honesty 
and square dealing. 

Bleeding After Castration. 

Sometimes it happens that an animal will bleed after the 
operation. A small stream of dark blood will generally soon 



106 THE farmer's ready reference. 

stop itself, being from veins. But if the stream is large and 
bright red it is from the artery and should be stopped. The 
best plan is to cast the animal and tie the artery ; but, if not 
possible, till the scrotum with cotton saturated with tincture of 
iron, if you have it, or roll it in a mixture or salt and soot and, 
when the scrotum is full of cotton, put in a stitch or two to keep 
it there till twenty-four to forty-eight hours after when the 
stitches should be cut and the cotton left to work out itself. A 
stream of cold water allowed to fall a distance of two or three 
feet upon the animal's loins will often act like a charm and 
might be used in connection with the cotton. 

Swelling After Castration. 

After a colt has been castrated he must be allowed plenty of 
exercise and be made to take it if he acts stiff. If the swelling 
increases bathe the scrotum with hot water ; inject the cuts 
with turpentine, one part, and sweet oil or clean lard, two parts, 
mixed ; then move him around slowly at first, but increasing to 
a lively walk as he warms up. As soon as healthy pus begins to 
flow the swelling generally goes down. 

Scirrhus Cord. 

This is a condition in which the cord, from undue irritation, 
grows to an unusual size and protrudes from the wound in the 
scrotum in the shape of a tumor. The only remedy for it is to 
cast the animal and remove the growth. But as the operation re- 
quires more than ordinary skill it is not necessary to describe it. 

Breeding. 

In treating this subject we shall be compelled, for want of 
space, to confine ourselves to giving only a general outline, and 
recommend those who desire to go into the finer details to that 
most excellent work, Sanders' Science of Breeding. There is no 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. lOT 



other one thing which so affects the value and usefuhiess of live 
stock upon the farm as does the selection of those to be used for 
breeding purposes ; and a more judicious selection would en- 
hance the value of the stock on many a farm today. 

As to the best breed to raise, it is a matter of choice to each 
individual according to the use for which he intends them and 
the demands of the market. But whatever be the breed, select 
only sound, healthy stock. Never breed a mare because she is 
lame and unable to earn her keeping by work. Many, if not all, 
defects in the dam are transmitted to the offspring. Never 
breed a mare until near maturity. It is a habit of some farmers 
to breed tillies at two years of age, and then often to some in- 
ferior stallion because he is cheap. No mare should be served 
until three years old and not then unless well developed. Never 
breed an old, broken down mare. Select only such as are fully 
matured, well developed, vigorous and of kind disposition, and 
mate with a stallion selected v\ ith the same care, and you may 
expect a favorable result. 

Care of Mare. 

The period of gestation in a mare has been placed at eleven 
months, although occasionally one will go a few days over twelve 
months. A mare should not be confined in the stable, but if not 
at work should be allowed to run out at least a part of each day. 
Moderate work will do no harm, but she should be fed liberally 
and sheltered from the storms. 

Although better loose at all times, she may be tied up until 
within a month of foaling time, when she should be left loose in 
a box stall alone. Mares, if left alone, generally deliver their 
foals without trouble ; but in case of a failure an experienced 
person should be called, as no printed directions would enable 



103 THE farmer's ready reference. 

an inexperienced person to operate with safety to the mare and 
foal both. After foaling, feed on light diet for a few days. 

Care of Foal. 

The foal should not be disturbed until it has had time to get 
dry and become accustomed to its new life, and it will generally 
get up and try to suck. If it should not be able to stand after 
an hour or two, a little assistance may be given. The first milk 
of the dam when taken freely has a medicinal effect in cleansing 
the little fellow's bowels; but if no passage is seen by the end of 
twenty-four hours, inject into the rectum a tablespoonful of 
glycerine, repeating it every fifteen minutes until there is a full 
passage. ^Ve have saved life with injections of glycerine when 
the colt w ould not have lived long enough for a dose of oil to 
operate. It can be repeated every day until a regular action of 
the bowels is established. 

In case it becomes necessary to feed a young colt by hand, 
only new^ milk from a cow lately fresh should be used, and as 
the milk of the cow is not as sweet as that of the mare, a little 
sugar should be added. 

Rupture in Foals. 

As this is of frequent occurrence, which w^e know from the 
number of men who come to us each year for advice, and, as men 
are often wrongly advised by " boss doctors" looking for a job, 
we will repeat the advice we have always given, although nature 
almost invariably cheated us out of a job. In rupture, either of 
the scrotum or the navel, unless there is pain from strangulation 
of the intestines, our plan is to let it alone ; and w^e feel safe in 
saying that fully three-fourths of such cases will dissappear by 
the end of a year, thus saving the colt the pain and the owner 
the expense and risk of an operation. If, at the end of a year, 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 109 



there has been no decrease in the size of the sac, then we advise 
an operation on a rupture in either of the localities mentioned, 
liut there is a difference in the manner of operating. 

If the rupture is at the navel the colt must be turned upon 
its back and the contents of the sac returned through the open- 
ing into the abdominal cavity ; the loose skin should then be 
drawn up and a strong cord tied several times around it as close 
as possible to the abdominal wall, and drawn tight enough to 
stop the circulation. If the cord is passed through the skm with 
a large needle it will prevent slipping, and in about ten days the 
sac will drop off and the part will heal over. 

In rupture of the scrotum the operation is that of castration 
in case of a rupture, and should not be undertaken by any one 
without some knowledge of the parts. The colt should be cast 
and tied as for ordinary castration ; turn him upon his back> 
return the intestines, then open the sac all except the last 
covering of the testicle. This should be stripped carefully by the 
fingers directly up to the opening of the abdominal wall and 
there secured by tying as in rupture of the navel ; then the cord 
of the testicle can be severed two inches below. When both 
testicles have been removed the colt should be allowed to rise. 
Treat the same as in ordinary castration. 

Glanders— Chronic and Acute. 

Glanders is a specific contagious disease due to the entrance 
into the blood of a living gevm— Bacillus mallei. This disease is 
communicated from one animal to another by inoculation or 
actual contact with the virus only, and not, as many suppose, by 
simply standing in the same stable with, but at some distance 
from, a glanderous horse. The old theory that glanders some- 
times originated spontaneously from filthy stables, severe and 
neglected cases of distemper and nasal gleet have long ago been 



110 THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 

discartied as incorrect. While it is true that any debilitating 
disease will render the system more susceptable to the contagion, 
yet when a case of distemper or any other disease terminates in 
glanders, it is evident that the patient has become inoculated by 
coming in actual contact with the virus of that disease. 

The ways of contagion are numerous. It is often communi- 
cated through public watering troughs, hitching posts and from 
running at large upon the commons. It is not necessary that 
the virus be taken up by the healthy animal as soon as it has 
been discharged by the diseased one, but it may become dried 
upon hitching posts and upon the manger in the stable and 
remain for several weeks and then be taken up by a healthy 
animal and be capable of producing the disease. 

Symptoms.— As the disease is most commonly seen in the 
chronic form, the symptoms are not generally well marked in 
the beginning. It may make its appearance in the form of a 
mild attack of catarrhal fever, with only a slight, thin mucous- 
like discharge from one or both nostrils ; in a short time this 
discharge takes on a whitish, glary appearance, becomes gluey 
and adheres to the nostril, partly clogging it up if not wiped 
away. The sub-maxillary glands between the branches of the 
lower jaw first become swollen and painful, but instead of sup- 
purating as in distemper, they become hardened and remain so 
throughout the disease. Although a close observer might notice 
the unthrifty condition, the animal might be able to work on for 
months or even several years without showing any more definite 
symptoms and at the same time be capable of communicating 
the disease to other horses. After some time small, ragged ulcers 
form on the mucous membrane of the nostrils and the symptoms 
are very apparent This is known as the chronic form. 

In the acute form the symptoms are the same except that 
they are developed more rapidly, the disease generally running 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. Ill 



its course and endincr in death in from one to three months. 
Mules nearly always take the acute form. 

Farcy. 

Farcy, or as it is commonly called, button farcy, is simply 
another form of glanders, which, instead of affecting the 
Internal organs or the mucous membrane, characterizes itself 
by small tumors commonly called farcy buds. These buds gen- 
erally make their appearance on the inside of one or both hind 
legs, but may appear on any part of the body. If a bud is cut 
open it discharges a sticky, amber-colored fluid which corre- 
sponds to the nasal discharge in glanders. 

As it is a most difficult thing for even an expert to diagnose 

a case of glanders with any certainty in the first stages, it is 

utterly impossible to give any rule by which the inexperienced 

might be able to form a correct idea of the disease ; hence, we 

advise calling a competent veterinarian to examine the case in 

person whenever there is a nasal discharge the nature of which 

is not known. 

Locoistn^ 

There are two plants, commonly known as '' loco " or '' crazy 
weed," which, when eaten for some length of time, produce the 
peculiar condition called " locoism " or more commonly,'' locoed." 
These terms, like many other oddly-sounding words and phrases 
of the West are of Spanish origin. The word '' loco " in the 
Spanish tongue signifies fool ; hence, the literal translation of 
the phrase '' loco weed " is fool weed. Botanically, one of the 
plants is called Astragalus MolUssiinus, the other Oxytropis Lam- 
herti, both belonging to the natural order Leguminosoe. It is not 
during the summer months when the range is covered with 
green grass that animals first learn the habit of eating loco ; but 
after the pasturage has become closely eaten and dry and the 



112 THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 



ground is covered with snow, then the feed being scarce, the 
half-starved animals wandering about in search of something 
with which to satisfy the pangs of hunger, are tempted to eat 
the bunches of " loco weed." The center of the bunch, being 
well protected by the outer leaves, is tender and juicy, even in 
midwinter, and also has a peculiar sweetish taste, wiiich, once 
learned, seems to be relished by the animal and is never for- 
gotten. However, an animal when first beginning to eat the 
weed will not, as a rule, leave other food to search for it, but 
will only eat it as it accidentally finds it in the way. 

I have seen horses that had been eating it in this casual way 
for a month or more, and were then taken up and fed upon hay 
and grain, which never exhibited any of the symptoms of the 
disease whatever. And I have also seen horses that had become 
affected to quite an extent— even so much that they would not 
lead, but would run backward instead— taken up and fed upon 
hay and grain, but given no medicines, and in time recovered 
suflScieutly to be broken to harness and become good workers in 
the team, but would never learn to lead by the halter and were 
never safe under the saddle. 

Then I have seen others in which the habit of eating "• loco " 
had become so confirmed that the appetite seemed to crave it in 
preference to any other food. Such an animal will, at first, 
generally feed apart from, but within sight of, its companions ; 
it will follow a short distance behind them as they travel to water; 
wait till they driAi and start back, then approach the water 
cautiously, drink and follow back to the grazing grounds. But 
after a while it will abandon the herd entirely, search out the 
patches of "■ loco," where it will remain, only leaving when 
forced by thirst to go to w^ater ; then it will start oft" in a dazed 
sort of a way, walking with feeble and uncertain step, returning 
to the same place again as soon as it has quenched its thirst. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 113 

The poor victim continues in this routine, gradually growing 
thinner in flesh until it finally dies, apparently more because of 
mal-assimilation than starvation, unless, as frequently happens, 
it falls into a pit or runs over a bluff and breaks its neck. 

The active principle, whatever it is, of the plant seems to 
affect chiefly the brain, but to some extent the entire nervous 
system. What that active principle is or under what conditions 
it must be eaten has never yet been ascertained. One of the 
peculiar effects of the plant upon the animal eating it is the 
dilatation of the pupil of the eye, as after administering bella- 
donna or its alkaloid atropine. 

Treatment.— In extremely bad cases treatment is useless ; 
but in only moderately-affected cases the symptoms can be so 
palliated as to render the horse capable of doing good service in 
the team for several years. Place the animal in a stall where all 
is quiet ; give a suflScient dose of Barbadoes aloes to operate 
moderately ; give laudanum in drench, or morphia hypodermic- 
ally, often enough to correct the dilatation of the pupil of the 
eye ; give bromide of potassium in doses of two or three drachms 
each often enough to quiet the symptoms of nervousness, adding 
an equal quantity of chloral hydrate to each dose if the bromide 
does not have the desired effect. As soon as the foolish actions 
of the animal begin to subside it should be given, twice a day as 
a tonic, a dose composed of two drachms each of gentian and 
foenugreek, one drachm of sulphate of iron and one drachm of 
nux vomica. Feed liberally and give pure water to drink. Turn 
the animal out in a yard every day for exercise, and after it has 
become tractable it may be put to light work. The degree of 
success in managing such a horse will depend much upon the 
coolness and patience of the driver. A '' locoed " horse and a 
"" locoed " driver should never be allowed in the same team. 



114 THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 

Age of the Horse. 

As the teeth furnish the best means of determining the age 
of the horse, a f ( w w(jrds upon that subject will not be out of 
place. The horse lias two sets of teeth, the temporary or milk 
teeth, twenty-four in number, which are shed to give place to 
the permanent ones, which are forty in number in the horse; the 
mare, being minus the tusks or canine teeth, has only thirty-six. 
As it is only with the incisors we have to deal in determin- 
ing the age of the horse, we will confine our remarks to them 
'Aone. If the young foMl is born at its proper time, it has at 
birth, or within a few days after, four temporary incisors, two 
above and two below: called the central incisors. At about the 
age of one month four more teeth appear, one on the outside of 
each of the centrals ; these are called the lateral incisors. At 
about the age of eight months the third set, or corner incisors, 
make their appearance. At the age of two and one- half years 
the central incisors are shed and by the time the animal is three 
years old they will have been replaced by the permanent teeth. 
The lateral incisors are shed at three and a half and replaced at 
four; the coiner teeth are shed at four and a half and replaced 
at five, when, in the male, the canine teeth will have appeared 
and the animal is said to have a full mouth. 

From this time on the aae can only be determined by the 
wear, shape and general appearance of the teeth, to do which 
requires considerable experience in order to become an expert. 
As the grinding surfaces of the incisors wear away, their inner 
walls will come into wear and the cups gradually become more 
shallow in the same order in which the temporary teeth were 
shed and replaced by the permanent ones. By observation it 
will be seen that, as the permanent teeth make their appearance, 
only the anterior or outer walls come into w^ear at first, but at 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 115 

the age of six years the posterior or inner walls of the central 
incisors will be up level and in wear and the cups will have 
grown more shallow if they have not entirely disappeared. At 
seven years old the laterals beconcie likewise and at eight the 
corner ones are the same. 

Although the upper teeth wear more slowly than tlie lower 
ones, yet they must, to some extent, serve as a guide to the 
horse's age from this time on ; and the same changes will take 
place in them that the lower ones have already undergone, 
beginning with the centrals at nine, the laterals at ten and the 
corners at eleven. The teeth will also have changed their shape 
to some extent ; they will have grown more narrow from side to 
side and wider from front to back. But these changes will not 
be the same in all horses ; some teeth wear more rapidly than 
others. On most horses there is a groove on the outside of the 
upper corner incisor which makes its appearance at the upper 
part of the tooth nearest the gum at about ten years of age, and, 
as the tooth continues to rise from the alveolar proc( ss, extends 
down the tooth as follows : At the age of twelve and a half the 
groove extends down one-lourth the length of the tooth ; at 
fifteen, one-half ; at seventeen and a half, three-qarters ; and at 
twenty-one, the entire length of the tooth. While it must be 
admitted that these marks will be somewhat cf a puzzle to the 
average farmer or horseman, yet with a little careful observation 
and practice almost any one may be able to determine the age of 
a horse nearly enough for all practical purposes. 



PART SECOND. 



Diseases of Cattle, 

THEIR CAUSES; 

THEIR SYMPTOMS; 

THEIR TREATMENT, 



INTRODUCTORY HINTS. 



With the cattle industry occupying the important position 
which it now does in the wealth and resources of the country it 
would be mere folly to place this work in the hands of the 
farmer without saying something upon this subject; but , as a 
lengthy treatise upon the subject would only tend to confound 
and mystify the average reader, the remarks given here will be 
confined to the most common diseases of cattle, such as lie with- 
in the power of the farmer to treat, together with a few caution- 
ary hints upon some contagious diseases which have an impor- 
tant bearing upon the health of the human family. 

Action of Medicines in Cattle. 

Owing to the sluggish nature of cattle some drugs do not 
have the same effect upon them that they do upon horses. Aloes, 
even in large doses, have little or no effect while Epsom salts are 
an effective purge. Oil is also excellent as a mild purge or laxative; 
in the absence of oil, lard may be used instead. None of the prep- 
arations of mercury should be used by the novice as their action 
is sometimes violent and injurious. 

All medicines are best given in liquid form and should be of 
considerable bulk, owing to the great capacity of the digestive 
apparatus. The dose also is, as a rule, double the size of that 
given to the horse and, in some medicines, even larger. 

Signs of Disease. 

In cattle, as well as in horses, it is necessary that the at- 



120 THE farmer's ready reference. 

tendant should know the signs of health before he can learn 
to distinguish the symptoms of disease. 

A staring coat and dry, harsh skin; a dull, sunken eye; a 
cough; a poor or a capricious appetite; a dry muzzle and sus- 
pended rumination are all indications of interference with the 
functions of some part of the animal organism, while the oppo- 
site of these conditions affords good grounds for considering the 
animal in good health. 

Pulse, Temperature and Respiration. 

As each expansion and contraction of the heart as it pumps 
the blood throughout the system causes a beat or pulsation 
which can be perceptably felt wherever an artery passes near 
the surface an idea of the circulation can be obtained by '■''taking 
the pulse." The places where the pulse may be taken are at the 
angle of the lower jaw as in the horse, about the middle of the 
first rib, or on the under side of the root of the tail; or in fact it 
may be taken at any point where an artery nears the surface, 
especially if it passes over a bone. The number of pulse beats 
per minute in cattle is from 45 to 55 and should be regular, full, 
round and soft. 

The temperature in cattle is also somewhat higher than in 
horses, being from about 100 degrees to 101 degrees Fah., and 
anything above this may be looked upon as indicative of some 
functional derangement. The respirations, in health, are from 
10 to 15 per minute which may easily be seen from the heaving 
of the sides of the chest. But in examining for disease it should 
be remembered that surrounding circumstances exert a power- 
ful influence upon the condition of an animal. Thus anything 
which tends to worry or excite, and especially being chased by 
dogs, will increase the frequency of both the pulse and respira- 
tions and will sometimes even cause an elevation of temperature. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 121 

Hence the necessity of always having a sick animal in some 
quiet place separate from the others and of approaching it as 
gently as possible when an examination is to be made 

The proportioning of doses according to age can be learned 
from the chapter on "'•Administering Medicines" in the first part 
of this book. Also where a remedy is recommended without giv- 
ing its manner of preparation the formula will be found complete 
under ''Medicines and how to Prepare Them." 

Prompt Action Necessary. 

Owing to the sluggish nature of cattle and their disposition 
to ''give up" in disease, early and prompt treatment is very es- 
sential; and to nurse a sick cow properly often requires more 
patience and perseverance than to nurse a sick horse. 



DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY 
ORGANS. 



Catarrh or Common Coid. 

Catarrh or cold is the result of exposure to cold or wet 
weather. Standing in damp, filthy stables or in a current of 
cold air are prolific sources of the disease. 

Symptoms. — There will be poor appetite, staring coat, dry 
muzzle and a watery discharge from eyes and nostrils. The 
mucous membrane lining the nostrils will be red and inflamed, 
and sometimes this condition will extend to the throat and 
larynx and then there will be swelling of the throat and difficult 
breathing and sometimes a cough. 

Treatment.— Place the animal in a warm, but well-venti- 
lated stable, and if the weather is cold put on a blanket. Give a 
pint of lard or raw oil at once. Give the following drench every 
four hours until the muzzle becomes moist and there are signs 
of improvement. Sweet spirits of nitre, two ounces; nitrate of 
potash, four drachms; sulphate of cinchonida, one drachm; 
water, one pint. When there is well-marked improvement this 
may be reduced to three times a day. Steam the nostrils occa- 
sionally with boiling water to which an ounce of turpentine has 
been added. If the throat is sore or there is a cough apply the 
ammoniacal liniment, rubbing it in well three or four times a 
day, until the skin becomes sore. Give plenty of cold water to 
drink and feed on soft food as bran mash, boiled oats, vegetables 
and good, clean, sweet hay. 



THE farmer's ready RE-FERENCE. 123 

Pneumonia or Inflammation of the Lungs. 

Pneumonia is inflammation of ihe lung substance and may be 
in one or both lungs. It is often caused by exposure to cold or 
wet, or by sudden changes of the weather; it may follow a severe 
case of catarrh. 

Symptoms.— One of the first symptoms is a chill or shivering, 
but this often passes unnoticed. The appetite fails, rumination 
ce:ises, the muzzle becomes dry, and the nostrils are dilated. 
The breathing becomes more rapid and difficult and if the ear is 
held against the side of the chest there will be an absence of the 
natural respiratory murmur, and instead will sometimes be heard 
a dry wheezing sound or, if the pleura is involved, there will be a 
rasping sound as of two pieces of dry leather being rubbed to- 
gether. The pulse will be strong and full at first but as the 
disease progresses it will grow small, weak and wiry an d gradu- 
ally increase in frequency. The temperature may be from 103 
degrees to 105 degrees Fah., which can only be determined by the 
use of the thermometer. The animal stands with its fore legs 
wider apart than usual. Unlike horses, cattle sometimes lie 
down in pneumonia always resting upon the sternum; they 
evince signs of pain and do not remain in a recumbent position 
long at a time. 

Treatment.— In this disease prompt action and good nurs- 
ing are of the greatest importance; the patient must be shielded 
from cold and wet. Give four drachms of nitrate of potash and 
one drachm of the sulphate of cinchonida every four hours until 
the fever begins to abate then give the same dose three times a 
day. If the patient is thin in flesh or appears weak, give with 
each dose two ounces of sweet spirits of nitre or three ounces of 
Mindererus' spirit. If the bowels are not already loose give 
from one to three drachms of calomel in the beginning of the 



124 THE farmer's ready reference. 

disease. These medicines are best given in gruel. Rub the 
sides of the chest thoroughly with ammouiacal liniment three 
or four times a day, or until the skin becomes tender. Give the 
animal all the cool water it can drink and feed on laxative, 
nourishing diet. If treatment is begun in the early stages the 
chances for recovery are good. 

Pleurisy. 

Pleurisy is the term used to designate inflammation of the 
pleura or membrane lining the chest and covering the lungs. It 
is often complicated with pneumonia and then becomes more 
serious. 

Symptoms. — The symptoms are somew^iat similar to those 
of pneumonia, except that the breathing is more painful ; the 
elbows will stand out more than usual; the ribs will appear 
fixed and the breathing will be done by the abdominal muscles. 
There is generally a short, painful cough which sounds as if the 
animal was trying to suppress it. There will be a crease, called 
the " pleuritic ridge," running from the flank downward and for- 
w^ard along the lower ends of the ribs toward the elbows ; the 
animal will walk with difficulty, as though stiff in the shoulders, 
giving a short, quick grunt at each step. In the beginning, if 
the ear is held to the side of the chest, a rasping sound will be 
heard ; but, after a few days, this will be absent owang to the 
effusion of fluid into the thoracic cavity. 

Treatment. — The treatment prescribed in pneumonia will 
be equally effective in pleurisy if begun in time. If there is no 
improvement after several days, effusion takes place, the chest 
begins to fill with w^ater, producing the condition known as 
hydrothorax, when there is little hope for the patient except in 
the hands of the most skillful practitioner. 



DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE 
ORGANS. 



Choking. 

Cattle are very liable to choke, especially when fed on roots, 
nubbins of corn, chopped pumpkins, or any other hard food. 

Symptoms.— The animal will stop eating, stand apart from 
the others, drool freely and sometimes gulp as if trying to 
swallow. Tlie obstruction may also be seen and felt from the 
outside of the throat and neck. Sometimes when an animal has 
remained choked for some time there will be severe bloating 
which may have to be relieved by puncturing, as described under 
Bloating. 

Treatment— If the obstruction is up near the throat, 
place a gag in the animal's mouth and endeavor to reach the 
offending object and draw it out through the mouth. But, if 
the choke is low down or cannot be reached with the hand, a 
probang must be inserted and the object pushed down into the 
stomach. If the choke should be of bran or other ground food, 
or of oats, do not pass the probang, as it will only pack and make 
the matter worse. In this case a little oil may be poured down ; 
or better, a half pint of water in which has been dissolved a 
heaping teaspoonful of saltpetre, and then try to start the choke 
by working on the outside with the hands. If a choke cannot 
be removed by any other means it may be done by laying the 
walls of the esophagus or gullet open with a sharp knife, but 



126 THE FAEMER's ready REFEREIS'CE. 

this will require the skill of a surgeon, and need not be described 

here. 

Bloating. 

Bloating is of very common occurrence in cattle, especially in 
districts where red clover is raised for pasture. Allowing 
animals to graze upon clover in the morning while the dew is on, 
or even when it is wet from rain, will often cause severe bloating. 
Frozen roots or vegetables of any kind, grass when covered 
with frost, half- wilted tops of garden vegetables are all likely to 
cause trouble. 

Symptoms —The symptoms cannot be mistaken. The left 
flank will be most prominent, being often raised above the level 
of the backbone, and having a drum-like sound when struck 
with the hand When the stomach becomes greatly distended 
it presses forward upon the diaphragm and lungs so much 
as to interfere with the breathing; and if not relieved the animal 
reels, falls and dies of sulfocation. 

Treatment.— In moderate cases, w^here death from suffo- 
cation is not imminent, a heaping tablespoonful of pulverized 
charcoal mixed with water and given as a drench, and repeated 
in half an hour, is sometimes very effectual. Four drachms of 
carbonate of ammonia, given in a quart of water every half 
hour will often stop the formation of gas. But in urgent cases 
puncturing in the flank is the only resort. This is best done 
with trocar and canula, which every stock raiser should have 
and know how to use. In the absence of a trocar, a long, 
slender-bladed knife may be used. The point at which to 
puncture is high up on the left flank at an equal distance from 
the last rib, the point of the hip, and the transverse process of 
the vertebrae. An incision half an inch long should be made in 
the skin, the point of the trocar inserted and pushed downward 
and slightly inward and forward. The trocar should then be 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 127 

withdrawn, leaving the canula in the opening until all the gas 

has escaped and its formation ceased. The trocar should then 

be inserted and the canula removed and a little carbolized oil 

rubbed on the wound. The animal should Ihen have a pound of 

Epsom salt dissolved in half a gallon of w^ater and given as a 

drench. 

Indigestion. 

Indigestion in the chronic form is of frequent occurrence 
among milk cows, especially in towns and cities where large 
quantities of corn chop and other heating food-stuffs are fed. 
Mouldy or course innutritious hay, or wintering around straw 
stacks will also cause it. 

Symptoms.— Staring coat, sunken eyes, loss of appetite, 
hollow flanks, dry, flaky, mucous-covered droppings, and some- 
times they will be blood-stained and are always small in quan- 
tity. The muzzle will be dry at times and at others moist. The 
breathing is generally increased and the animal grunts and 
frequently moans, especially when moved. 

Treatment.— The first step is to cleanse the bowels. If 
there is diarrhoea give a quart of raw oil If there is no diarrhoea 
give one pound or more of Epsom salt dissolved in half a gallon 
of warm water, repeating the dose if the first does not operate in 
twenty-four hours. When the bowels have been opened give 
the following dose twice a day until the bowels become regular : 
Bicarbonate of soda, powdered charcoal and powdered gentian 
root, of each half an ounce. Feed on oil cake, bran mash, roots 
or any other easily-digested, laxative food. If in summer give 
green grass ; if in winter give good, sweet hay for roughness and 
allow plenty of good water at all times. 

Constipation. 

Constipation in cattle is always more or less associated with 



128 THE farmer's ready reference. 

indigestion, aiul the same treatment will apply to both. If the 
case is an obstinate one, a lialf a pint to a pint of raw oil every 
day or two will assist in keeping the bowels open. 

Diarrhoea. 

Diarrhoea sometimes becomes a very serious affection in 
cattle. It may c<)me from chronic indigestion or it may be due 
to an overfeed of grain ; it also frequently happens from eating 
some irritating or poisonous substance. 

Symptoms. — The symptoms are very apparent. The dis- 
charge from the bowels is very profuse ; it is often very dark in 
color and has a fetid odor. In the beginning there is gen- 
erally great thirst, but no appetite for food. If the disease 
continues for some time the animal becomes so prostrated 
that it cannot rise to its feet, and the discharge becomes thin 
and watery. 

Treatment. — It will do no good to give astringents to 
check the discharge until the bowels have been cleansed of all 
irritating substance ; hence, one and a half pints of raw oil and 
two ounces of laudanum should be given at once, and if there is 
much pain, an ounce of laudanum and four ounces of raw oil 
may be given every two hours until the pain ceases. An ounce 
of hyposulphite of soda should be given every three or four 
hours, either in a quart of water or slippery elm tea. After the 
oil has operated, take four heaping tablespoonfulls of wheat 
flour and make into thin gruel by boiling over a slow tire ; give 
this at one dose and repeat every six hours until the bowels 
begin to check. Feed on light, nourishing diet for a few days 
until the stomach has had time to recover from the shock. 

Gastric Delirium. 

This is a peculiar affection which I have frequently met 
with in Kansas, and to which I apply the above name for want 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 129 

of a better one. I have never seen the disease in other than 
cows while giving milk. Some have called it ergotism, but with 
this theory I cannot agree. I have not seen a description of 
anything just like it in any of the works on veterinary science. 
So far, I have only met with it in the spring and early summer 
months; and from this I have attributed it to some impropriety 
in the winter and spring diet, or surroundings, prior to turning 
out to grass. It may be due to feeding on mouldy hay or grain. 
At any rate, the stomach seems to be the seat of the disease, 
and the brain, acting in sympathy with it, becomes delirious. 

Symptoms.— The symptoms vary somewhat in different 
individuals and in different stages of the disease. The first 
symptom generally noticed is a refusal of food, or feeding 
scantily ; there will be decrease in the quantity of milk ; the 
eyes will have a dull stare, and sometimes the animal appears 
dazed. I saw one cow that constantly licked her fore legs. 
Another gnawed the board fence— like a horse often does. As 
the disease progresses, the patient becomes more delirious and 
pushes with its head against a w^all, fence or any other object 
with which it may come in contact. 

Treatment.— Give a dose of Epsom salt sufficient to open 
the bowels (a pound or more to an ordinary cowO dissolved in 
half a gallon of warm water. Half an ounce of bromide of 
potassium should be given with the salt and the same dose 
repeated every four or six hours until the delirium subsides. In 
severe cases, cloths wet in cold w^ater should be kept on the 
head. If the first dose of Epsom salt does not open the bowels 
in twenty-four hours a second dose should be given. For after- 
treatment an ounce of hyposulphite of soda may be given in 
drinking water two or three times a day. 



130 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Depraved Appetite. 

Sometimes cattle are seen chewing old bones, licking a stone 
wall, eating earthy matter, etc. This generally indicates some 
gastric derangement and will nearly always yield to the treat- 
ment prescribed for indigestion. Some cows get into the habit 
of eating horse dung, probably due to starvation at first, unless 
it originates from the filthy habit which some dairymen have of 
feeding their cows upon the cleanings from livery stables, 
simply because they can get it for the trouble of hauling. 



DISEASES OF THE EYE. 



I 



Injuries. 

Cattle are liable to receive iDJuries to the eyes from brush 
and weeds while grazing ; also from chaff and other substances 
getting into the eye, causing it to become inflamed and throw 
off a watery discharge. 

Treatment.— Examine the eye carefully to remove any 
foreign body that may be there. If there is much pain, bathe 
the eye for ten or fifteen minutes night and morning with water 
as hot as can be borne with the hand. If the irritation is only 
slight, cold-water bathing will be all that is necessary. In very 
severe cases the animal should be kept in a dark stable in the 
brightest part of the day. 

Bleeding Fungus. 

This is a cancerous growth which sometimes affects the eyes 
of cattle. A fungus growth grows in the eye and tissues around 
it, protruding from the orbital fossa and sometimes crowding 
the eye out with it. There is a constant discharge and a fetid 
odor from it. 

Treatment.— The only remedy is to remove the entire 
growth, eye and all tissues involved ; scrape the bone clean and 
then apply powdered sulphate of copper to all raw surface and 
fill the cavity with cotton. In twenty-four hours the cotton 
should be taken out and the wound washed and dressed once a 
day thereafter with the following ointment : Pine tar and lard, 
of each, four ounces ; acetate of copper, half an ounce ; mix. 



132 THE farmer's ready reference. 

Contagious Ophthalmia. 

Contagious ophtbalmia in cattle is comparatively a new 
disease in Kansas, only having made its appearance about five or 
six years ago. It does not sweep the entire country, but is 
rather enzootic in its habits, although when it enters a herd it 
continues until all have had it. It is an inflammatoiy condition 
involving some of the inner structures of the eye and the eye- 
lids. 

Symptoms. — There will be a watery discharge from the eye ; 
the lids will be kept closed. As the disease progresses, the eje- 
lids will become swollen; the cornea will have a whitish color, 
and the animal will grow dumpish and lose its appetite. In very 
severe cases the swelling continues until the eye-ball is ruptured 
and its contents discharged, precluding all possibility of restor- 
ing sight. 

Treatment.— Place the patient in a dark, cool stable ; four 
ounces of Epsom salt should be dissolved in a quart of water 
and given as a drench twice a day ; if the bowels become too 
loose, give only once a day. In mild cases, bathing twice a day 
with cold water may reduce the inflammation ; but, if there is 
much swelling, bathe twice a day with hot water, and each time 
wipe the skin dry and apply a little of the following, all around 
and in the eye : Nitrate of potash, forty grains ; sulphate of 
zinc, forty grains; fluid extract of belladonna, four drachms; 
water, one pint. If the eye-ball ruptures, syringe it out with 
the same lotion. 



PARASITIC DISEASES. 



Actinomycosis— Lumpy = Jaw. 

Actinomycosis, or lumpy-jaw, is characterized by swellings 
on the jaws. The swelling may be on either upper or lower jaw 
and may be somew^hat soft at first, but soon grows hard, as the 
disease affects the bone. It is due to the parasite oxtinomysis^ a 
vegetable fungus supposed to be on the fodder or other food and 
enters the animal organism through some abrasion of the skin. 
It sometimes affects the tongue, causing it to thicken up and 
become hard, in which condition it is the so-called '' woody- 
tongue." The general health of the animal does not appear to 
be much affected by the disease as long as the animal can masti- 
cate its food, but after a time the jaw^ becomes affected to such 
an extent that the animal can scarcely eat, then it soon becomes 
emaciated. Theorists differ as to whether the flesh of such an 
animal is fit for food. The safest plan is to let it alone. 

Treatment.— There have been many methods of treatment 
prescribed and some " sure cures "(?) advertised. But the only 
thing most of them affect, with any certainty, is the owner's 
pocket book. The best treatment known for this disease at the 
present time is that recommended by the Bureau of Animal 
Industry, which is as follows : Give a daily dose of iodide of 
potassium, allowing fifteen grains for each one hundred pounds 
of the animal's weight. This may be dissolved in w^ater and 
given as a drench, and should be continued until symptoms of 
iodism are produced, w^hich will be in from ten to fourteen days. 



134 THE faemer's ready reference. 

The animal will become lanfj^uid and disinclined to move about; 
the appetite will fail and there will be a discharge from the 
eyes and nostrils. In some subjects, not all, there will be a 
vesicular eruption of the skin ; there will be abstinence from 
water, and elevation of temperature. When these symptoms 
occur, the iodide should be withheld for a few days until the 
appetite returns and the other symptoms subside , when the 
treatment should be repeated as before. The treatment should 
be continued in this manner until the enlargement begins to 
decrease in size, which may be two or three months. 

Tuberculosis. 

Tuberculosis, or pulmonary consumption, is an infectious 
disease due to the bacillus tuherculosis which, through various 
channels, invades the animal's body. The most important con- 
sideration, with regard to animal tuberculosis, is the bearing 
that it has upon the health of the human family. That animal 
and human tuberculosis, or consumption, are identically the 
same has become an established fact; and it is also the belief of 
the most scientific investigators that animal, and especially 
bovine, tuberculosis is, to an enormous extent, responsible tor 
the same disease in the human race. 

The disease may be communicated from the animal to the 
human being in various ways. The milk of diseased animals is 
known to be one of the most prolific sources of communication. 
The flesh, though not always, has been known to contain the 
bacilli, and, as many people eat their meat '' rare done," it thus 
becomes a source of danger. The discharge from the nostrils 
and from abscesses of diseased animals falling upon the ground 
or upon stable floors, becoming dry and being taken up as fine 
dust by the moving air, may be inhaled by other cattle and also 
by human beings. Milk, containing the bacilli, spilled upon 



THE FARMER^S READY REFERENCE. 135 

floors of dwellings aud dairy rooms, in this manner becomes a 
source of communication by inhalation, even to those who do 
not drink it. 

A most serious aspect of this subject is the fact that this 
disease is not easily detected in its lirst stages ; its progress is 
often slow at first, the animal being apparently in fair health 
for a year or two after the disease has begun its work. A case 
which came under my own observation was that of a cow 
belonging to Dr. S. D. Koss of Manhattan, Kansas The subject 
was a high-grade Jersey cow, kept to supply the family with 
milk. Some time during the spring of 1892 the writer was called 
in and found the cow slightly indisposed, as if from a cold. 
There was affected breathing, and a slight wheezing sound in 
the lungs. Tuberculosis was mentioned at the time, but as we 
had no microscope and did not then know the use of tuberculin, 
no test was made ; and, as after a few doses of stimulants and 
tonics, the cow seemed to recover, nothing more was 
thought of the case until two years after, when your humble 
servant was again called to deliver a calf from the same cow. 
The cow was very thin in flesh, and Dr. Ross stated that she had 
not been doing well for a month or two. The calf was dead, 
but was soon delivered, and when the placenta was taken away 
its uterine surface was found thickly studded wath nodules and 
small ulcers. Having access this time to a microscope, the 
writer prepared several specimens, in each of which were count- 
less numbers of the bacilli of tuberculosis. 

Symptoms.— The symptoms are often so slight at first as to 
be almost unnoticed, or may be mistaken for a common cold. 
The animal may be slightly off its feed for a few days; the 
muzzle may be dry, and, if a cow, there may be a decrease in the 
quantity of milk. Good nursing, with a few doses of medicine, 



136 THE farmer's ready REFEREirCE. 

soon checks the disease, and ihe animal is all light for a while. 
These attacks become more frequent and each one leaves the 
system in a worse condition until finally the symptoms never 
abate eutirely. The hair will begin to look i ough ; the appetite 
will be capricious ; the breathing will be affected ; the animal 
cannot stand exertion ; the ear placed against the side of the 
chest will detect a wheezing or whistling sound ; there may be a 
cough and, as the disease progresses, there may be a discharge 
from the nostrils with a fetid odor ; as the symptoms become 
more aggravated, there will be great emaciation ; there will be 
complication with bowel troubles, and some times tubercular 
tumors or abscesses form about the head and neck and other 
parts of the body. 

But, though these symptoms are sufficient to excite sus- 
picion, the only true test is with the microscope, or by the 
hypodermic injection of tuberculin, both of which methods 
require experience. The disease is incurable, and as soon as its 
existence is proven, the affected animal should be destroyed and 
the carcass burned. The milk of tuberculous cows should nob 
even be fed to pigs. The writer has seen several well-marked 
cases of the disease in swine. 

Eruptive Aptha, or Pseudo=Foot=and=Mouth Disease. 

This disease first made its appearance in the State of Mis- 
souri a few years ago and was thoroughly investigated by Dr. 
Paul Paquin, State Veterinarian of Missouri at that time, and 
found to be due to some vegetable parasite. Through a miscon- 
struction of some statement made by the doctor, a report became 
widely circulated that the cases were of the true foot-and-mouth 
disease, and considerable excitement prevailed for some time ; 
but this false report was corrected by the Secretary of Agricul- 



I 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 137 

ture at Washington, D. C , (if I mi-itake not) and the excitement, 
as well as the disease, soon became quiet. 

Nearly every season since, there liave been a few cases in 
Missouri and Kansas (and probably other Western States), but 
it has never become serious, and if any animal ever died with 
the disease it must have been because the owner neglected to 
furnish proper food for it while its mouth was sore, and it 
starved to death. The disease is simply an eruption of the 
mucous membrane of the mouth and of the skin of the body; 
and although the two diseases have many symptoms in common, 
yet it lacks the virulence of the foot-and-mouth disease of 
European countries. 

Symptoms.— Small blisters form on the tongue and inside of 
the lips; these burst open, forming sm-.Il sores, and sometimes 
the lips become dry and cracked. The animal eats readily if 
food is placed well back on the tongue, but cannot take it up 
because of the soreness of the mouth. The jaws are kept mov- 
ing and the saliva flows freely. Small eruptions appear over the 
body; and about the udder and other parts where the hair is 
thin, the skin becomes of a reddish color. The soreness on the 
skin extends down to the feet and sometimes cracks form 
around the hoofs, and, in severe cases, the hoofs come off. The 
animal often gets very lame and is inclined to lie down a great 
deal. 

Treatment.— If there is diarrhoea, give a dose of raw oil ; 
if no diarriioea exists, give a dose of Epsom salt sufiicient 
to open the bow^els moderately ; give hyposulphite of soda in 
the drinking water to the amount of three ounces in twenty- 
four hours. Swab the mouth three times a day with the follow- 
ing : Alum, one ounce ; water, one quart ; mix. Sponge all 
sores on the body and feet with a solution of sulphate of copper. 



138 THE farmer's ready reference. 

one ounce, to water, one quart. Keep the patient in a cool, 
shady place, and feed on gruel, bran mash, boiled oats and other 
soft food. 

While I know of no instance wherein the disease has been 
communicated to man from handling diseased animals, yet 
it will be a wise plan not to get any of the saliva from the mouth, 
or the discharge from the eruptions on the skin, in any sores that 
may be on the hands. 



PARTURITION AND ITS SUBSEQUENT 

DISEASES. 



Parturition. 

Although cattle in their wild and untrammeled state, guided 
by natural instincts, scarcely ever have any trouble during the 
process of parturition, the changes in their mode of life, conse- 
quent upon domestication, have rendered timely assistance fre- 
quently necessary to a safe delivery. Hence, every one who has 
the care of cattle should be somewhat familiar with the proceed- 
ings in a case of natural presentation and delivery. 

The period of gestation in the cow is, approximately, about 
nine months. Some cows, and especially heifers with first calf, 
go a week or two over, or a week or two under the regular time 
without causing any material difference in the offspring. A rec- 
ord of the date of service should always be kept as a guide to 
the time about when parturition can be expected to take place. 
As the time for calving comes near, the udder tills out with milk; 
the hips will begin to spread apart, and the muscles on each side 
of the backbone between the hips and the root of the tail be- 
come sunken. 

When the time for delivery arrives the cow generally goes 
away from the others, if allowed to do so. There will be uneasi- 
ness, lying down and getting up again, as the labor pains come 
and go. In a short time the water bag makes its appearance, 
breaks, and the two front feet present themselves with the nose 



140 THE farmer's ready reference. 

lying between them. As long as the labor pains continue to 
come on and the calf is being forced through the passage, even 
though slowly, it is better, as a rule, not to interfere; but, if it 
seems to be on a "stand still" and the pains are diminishing, or 
the cow becoming weak from prolonged lab' 'r, aid may be given 
by pulling gently on the calf's feet just when the pain comes on, 
but at no other time. 

If, after the water bag has been presented and broken, the 
pains subside, or continue for some time without the apDcarance 
of the calf's feet, the hand and arm should be well oiled and in- 
troduced carefully into the vagina to ascertain the cause of the 
delay. If there is a wrong presentation, endeaver to bring the 
calf into proper position. No special instructions can be of any 
service on this point; but only a few general hints will be given, 
leaving the operator to use his own good sense and judgement, 
according to the circumstances. 

The proper presentaton is of the front feet and head, and if 
only a part of these are presented and the others lagging, bring 
them carefully into position. If the two hind feet are engaged 
in the passage, bring the calf away backwards. If both fore and 
hind feet be presented at the same time, retain the hind feet, 
return the front ones, and deliver the calf backwards. When 
delivery has been effected the cow will generally give the calf all 
the care that is necessary. 

Parturient Paralysis. 

It frequently happens after a difficult case of parturition, 
and sometimes where delivery was easy, that there is partial 
paralysis of the hind quarters. Sometimes a few days of good 
nursing will bring about recovery; but, if the cow does not show 
improvement by the second day, a moderate dose of Epsom salts 
should be given to open the bowels, and one drachm of nux vom- 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 141 



ica combined with two drachms of nitrate of potash should be 
given twice a day. If there is still no improvement after five 
da\s, increase the dose of nux vomica to two drachms. The 
spine should also be rubbed three times a day, till sore, with 
nmmoniacal liniment. Feed nourishing, laxative food and give 
plenty of fresh water to drink. 

Parturient Apoplexy. 
This is an affection of the brain and spinal cord and, al- 
though many different theories have been written in explana- 
tion of its origin, pathology and treatment, nothing very satis- 
factory has ever been reached It generally attacks only the 
best milkers, and the best in flesh. It comes on within four or 
five days after calving, the earlier, the more likely it is to be 
fatal. 

Symptoms.— First there will be a slight unsteadiness in walk- 
ing; the patient will lie down, then get up again, showing un- 
easiness; there will be constipation and scanty urine. The 
symptoms may come on very rapidly and in a short time there 
will be paralysis of the hind quarters and inability to rise when 
down; the head will be thrown around to the side and there will 
be a snoring sound in the breathing, and in time the animal will 
become unconscious. 

Treatment.— I have tried every remedy that I have ever 
seen prescribed in books or medical journals and the only one 
that has given any satisfaction is as follows: As soon as possi- 
ble after the attack begins to come on give six drachms each of 
chloral hydrate and bri^mide of potassium dissolved in one pint 
of water, and, each two hours thereafter, give a dose of four 
drachms each of the chloral aud potassium until three more 
doses are given, then gradually diminish the dose each time and 
also lengthen out the time between the doses. Great care must 



142 THE farmer's ready reference. 

be exercised to prevent choking while drenching, and just as 
soon as swallowing is done readily a dose of Epsom salt, sufficient 
to open the bowels, should be given. Plenty of drinking water 
should be given at all times, and a little nourishing food as soon 
as the animal will eat. The animal should be rolled over occa- 
sionally and be kept well bedded. Cloths wet in cold water 
should also be kept on the head for the first day or two. 

Garget. 

Garget is of frequent occurrence among good milkers, espe- 
cially in cities where cows are highly fed. It is often the result 
of careless milking, but may come from exposure to cold or wet. 

Symptoms.— Part or all of the udder becomes swollen and 
hard, and is sometimes very painful, The milk becomes thick 
and curdled and somtimes the secretion of milk is stopped, and 
only a watery fluid comes from the teat. 

Treatment.— Open the bowels with a doseof Epsom salt, 
then give half an ounce of nitrate of potash twice a day for a 
week. Bathe the udder twice a day with hot water, wipe dry 
and apply the following : Gum camphor rubbed fine , two 
ounces; fluid extract lobelia, two ounces; olive oil, six ounces; 
mix. Milk thoroughly clean several times a day. 

Inversion of the Uterus. 

Sometimes inversion of the uterus or ''calf bed" takes place 
after the calf has been delivered. It can be known by the large 
bloody-looking, pear shaped mass protruding or hanging from 
the vagina. 

Treatment.— Remove all straw and dirt from the ruass 
with warm water, and place a clean sheet under it to keep it 
from the ground. Oil the hand, insert the closed fist into one 
of the horns (two openings at the large end of the uterus), and 
push it as far in as possible; have an assistant to place his hands 



I 



THE FARMER^S READY REFERENCE. 143 

against this and hold it while you do the same with the other side. 
When the entire mass has been returned take a large needle 
and a strong twine and put four or five stitches across the vulva 
or mouth of the vagina to prevent the uterus from being ex^ 
pelled again. If the cow continues to strain, a couple of ounces 
of laudanum may be given in a pint of water as a drench. After 
trying all other remedies to prevent the uterus from being 
thrown out again, I have found nothing else so effectual as 
blistering the cow along the spine with ammoniacal lininent. 
The stitches should be left in for six or seven days. 

Retention of Placenta. 

Sometimes the placenta or afterbirth does not come away. 
A pint of scalded flax seed fed to the cow will often have the 
desired result. If it does not come away it should not be taken 
sooner than twenty-four, nor later than forty-eight hours, as to 
take it sooner might cause bleeding and later than forty-eight 
hours, decay would begin. 



MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 



Had Itch or Specific Cerebro Meningitis. 

The so-called "mad itch" iu cattle hus long been a mystery to 

cattlemen, as it seemingly attacked cattle in all conditions, fat 

cattle in the feed yards frequently falling victims. Many 
causes have been assigned for the disease. Frozen pasturage, 

poisonous vegetation, corn cobs and husks which hogs had 
chewed and covered with saliva, and then dropped upon the 
ground, were supposed to be eaten by the cattle and cause the 
peculiar symptoms. But all these theories faded one after 
another as experimental tests only brought contradictory results. 
The disease has been described under different names, some even 
calling it hydrophobia. The name Specific Cerebro Meningitis 
was suggested by Dr. Paul Faquin; and by reading a report of 
some investigations made by Dr. Faquin regarding the disease, 
I find that my own views deduced from observation through 
several years of practice are not far diiierent from his. The 
name,"mad itch," suggested by some of the symptoms seems to be 
the most known among stockmen. 

It is well known that in many pastures cattle get their 
water supply from ponds; or if there is a stream of water run- 
ning through the field it goes dry except a few deep holes. 
Now as the dry, hot weather comes on the water in these ponds 
or holes grows less in quantity and more filthy from the manure 
and from the tramping of the cattle until, finally, there is only 
a filthy, mucky mass left and the cattle go elsewhere for water. 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 145 

After a few weeks the rains begin to fall; ihe old watering 
places are filled with fresh, clear water, and the cattle are turn- 
ed into the old pasture again and in a few days begin to die. 

Thf re is some mystery the owner cannot comprehend. He 
does not look to tlie water for the cause, for he knows that it 
looks better than when the cattle were in the field before. He 
does not know that during this undisturbed period the old pond 
was a regular hot-bed for the development of fungi and micro- 
organic ferments; that in that clear, fresh water, so inviting to 
thirsty throats on a hot summer's day, lies the death dealing 
germ that is causing such terrible havoc among his cattle. 
There have been outbreaks of this disease where no pool of stag- 
nant water existed; but examination proved the soil to be of that 
moist, mucky character favorable to the development of disease 
germs, and, as it dried out, it wasleftfuUof deep indentations 
from the hoofs of the cattle. When the rain fell, these indenta- 
tions were tilled with water, and the cattle drank from them, 
thus taking in the germ as from the water in the pond. 

Sharp frosts and cold weather tend to check the ravages of 
the disease; but it starts again with warm weather, and, if the 
cattle are not removed, continues until the summer heat dries up 
the water. There is no cure for the disease when an animal 
once takes it. The only hope lies in preventing it. 

SY3IPT0MS.— There will be a dull, and sometimes anxious, 
look about the eyes; loss of appetite; suspension of rumination; 
dribbling of frothy saliva from the mouth; shivering of the 
muscles; sudden jerking of the feet; lying down and immediately 
getting up; walking with an unsteady gait; shaking of the head, 
with frequent attempts to scratch the shoulders and sides with 
the horns; rubbing the head and neck against other objects; 
sometimes holding the head near the ground, and at other times 



146 THE faemer's ready reference. 

holding it high in air. As lime goes on the symptoms become 
more aggravated; the eyes assume a wild, staring, frenzied ap- 
pearance; the animal will sometimes give a sudden start, snort, 
bellow, and run as if attacking some imaginary foe; it will often 
attack anything that may come in its way, man or beast, in a 
most threatening and aggressive manner. Thus the animal goes 
on for several days, when it generally sinks to the ground, either 
from exhaustion or paralysis, and often becomes comatose before 
it dies. These symptoms will not all be exhibited in every case; 
some cases will be mild and, to some extent, controllable; while 
others will be so frenzied and vicious as to lead the attendant 
and, sometimes, even inexperienced veterinarians to pronounce 
it hydrophobia. 

Preventative —When possible, water only from deep 
wells or running streams. If ponds must be used, clean them 
often, and, if the disease breaks out, move to higher ground, and 
change feed and water. 

Infectious Abortion. 

It is a well known fact that outbreaks of abortion among 
cows frequently occur in certain localities which cannot be 
traced to any visible or ordinary cause. ISo condition of flesh or 
health seems to be exempt, but fat and lean alike fall victims to 
the infection. These abortions generally occur at some time 
from the fourth to the seventh month of pregnancy and general- 
ly without any premonitory symptoms. In some instances the 
abortions of different cows have seemingly occured at regular 
intervals of a certain number of days, which might point to a 
necessary period of incubation. Experiments of smearing the 
vagina of a cow with the mucus from a cow that had just aborted, 
have produced abortion, thus proving that it can be communi- 
cated from one cow to another; but the fact that the succeeding 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 147 

cases in a stable have often stood far apart from the preceding 
ones, goes far to prove that actual contact is not necessary to 
its communication 

As no curative treatment has ever yet given satisfaction, the 
preventive treatment is the only one to be lecommended. 

First, when an abortion occurs, get rid of the foetus and all 
its membranes by burning; gather up all straw and other litter 
that may have become infected, and burn this also. If in a 
stable, close all doors and burn sulphur until the fumes penetrate 
every crevice, then whitewash all walls with a strong lime wash 
to which has been added a pound of salt to each two gallons of 
the wash, and sprinkle all floors with the same. 

Gonorrhoea. 

Occassionally a bull, from serving a cow suffering with 
leucorrhoea, will be attacked with an inflammation of the penis 
and mucous membrane lining the sheath which, if allowed to 
continue, often causes ulcers on the penis and swelling of the 
sheath. There is a muco-purulent discharge through which the 
disease will be communicated to cows if served by the bull while 
suffering with the disease. 

Treatment —The affected parts should be thoroughly 

cleaned with warm water and, if ulcers exist, they should be 

touched with nitrate of silver. After the first cleansing, wash 

the inflamed part once or twice a day with cold water, and each 

time make an application of the white lotion as described in 

Medicines and How to Prepare Them. When cows become 

affected, syringe out the vagina with warm water and inject the 

lotion. 

Blackleg. 

This is a disease which affects only young cattle, and is due 
to a micro-organism taken into the system from the soil in some 



143 THE farmer's ready reference. 

localities. As many theories have been advancerl regarding the 
origin of the disease, its treatment and propliylactic measures, 
we will not discuss the merits or demerits of these different 
theories here, but enter at once upon a description of the plans 
most feasible to the farmer for saving his cattle. 

It has often been said that "only fat cattle take the disease." 
While this is not true, yet it is a fact that only those which are 
thriving rapidly take it no matter whether fat or lean. And it 
is also a fact that depletion or a sudden check in the thriving of 
an animal will check the ravages of the disease, for the time 
being at least. 

Symptoms— At first there will be loss of appetite and rumi- 
nation will cease; a slight lameness may be noticed, gradually 
growing worse until the animal is unable to rise to its feet when 
down. There will be swelling in the lame limb, and, if the hand 
is rubbed over this gently, a crackling sound will be heard from 
underneath the skin. If the skin is split open, the blood will be 
of a black tarry appearance and too thick to flow. 

Treatment. — After an animal is down and unable to stand 
upon its feet when helped up, no medicine will save it. But, if 
found while yet able to walk about, give a dose of Epsom salt, 
raw oil or melted lard, sufficient to open the bowels, then get 
upon a horse and keep the patient on a trot for an hour or two 
unless the bowels open freely sooner. If you succeed in getting 
a full, free evacuation of the bowels, the chances are you will 
save the calf. Also as soon as a case of blackleg is found among 
a lot of young cattle, the entire lot should be taken from the 
pasture and put in a high, dry yard where they can get neither 
water nor feed for twenty-four hours. It may also be well 
enough to give each animal a dose of Epsom salt to open the 
bowels. The animals should not be returned to the same pasture. 



THE FARMER^S READY REFEREISTCE. 149 

but should be kept on higher and drier ground. Many prepara- 
tions have been recommended as preventatives, but experience 
has proven tiiem all to be of doubtful value A mixture com- 
posed of common salt, wood ashes, sulphur and saltpetre, will be 
found as good as any. It should be kept in troughs in the pasture 
where the cattle can get it at Will. 

We do not wish It understood that we ignore the theories 
that have been advanced by learned men in regard to this disease. 
On the contrary, we appreciate every effort of science to fathom 
the true cause of, and to discover a preventative against the 
disease, and, as preventive inoculation in the hands of some of 
our most noted scientists has produced comparative immunity 
from the disease, we recommend every farmer to give it a trial 
when opportunity aifords; but until such opportunity is afforded, 
we recommend the afore-described treatment, which we have 
given many trials and have never yet failed to check the ravages 
of the disease for the time being. 

5nake Bite^» 

Sometimes it happens that animals are bitten by poisonous 
reptiles. If the Wound is discovered immediately after it has 
been inflicted, the best plan is to cut it out and touch all raw 
surface with lunar caustic; but it is not always seen in time for 

this. 

Antidotes.— Dissolve half a pint of common salt in a quart 

or two of water and give as a drench, and bind salt moistened 

with hot water on the wound. Whiskey may be given in half 

pint doses every hour. An ounce of aqua ammonia well diluted 

with water and given every hour is good. The wound may also 

be bathed with ammonia. If great swelling takes place, little 

can be done. .^ ^. 

Cornstalk Disease. 

The disease known by this name is characterized by symp- 



150 THE farmer's ready reference. 

toms of indigestion followed by delirium. Various opinions 
have been advanced in regard to its cause, but no satisfactory 
treatment has yet been found. It is believed by some to be due 
to a minute parasitic fungus which grows upon stocks and blades 
of fodder left standing in the field, while others adhere to the 
theory of impaction in the stomach. As we are not in possession 
of anything from late investigations which will throw any light 
upon the subject, we copy an article written by the author of 
this work a few years ago on the latter theory and published in 
the Kajisas Farmer. 

''This affection has been known for ages past, under the 
different names of 'dry murrain', Vfardle-bound', 'grass stag- 
gers', 'impaction of the man) plies', 'wood evil' and 'indiges- 
tion'. The different names simply indicate the ideas of the dif- 
ferent individuals iii regard to the nature of the disease, its 
causes, etc., according to the construction they each placed up- 
on the peculiar symptoms exhibited by the animals affected. 
But, by whatever name the disease may be called, the pathology 
is just the same, namely, a disordered condition of the stomach, 
an imperfect performance of its functions, and either a partial 
or a total suspension of the process of digestion. The peculiar 
construction of the stomach of the ruminant or cud-chewing 
animal, makes its mode of feeding so intirely different from that 
of the non-ruminant , that, in order to make the subject 
more closely understood, a description is necessary. The stom- 
ach of the ox is very large as compared with that of the horse, 
and capable of containing a great amount of food. It is divided 
into four distinct compartments as follows: The rumen or 
paunch, reticulum or second stomach, the omasum or third 
stomach, sometimes also called the manyplies, and the abomasum 
or fourth stomach. The rumen is the largest of the four divis- 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 151 



sioiis, and is equal in capacity to all the others combined The 
esophagus or gullet through which all food and drink passes 
from the mouth to the stomach, enters the rumen near its 
junction with the reticulum or second stomach, and continuing 
along the roof of the second stomach, not as a complete tube, 
but in the shape of two movable lips attached by one border to 
the walls of the second stomach, the other border being free, it 
enters the third stomach by a circular orifice. These lips, when 
open and passive, allow all food as it is swallowed to pass into 
the rumen, but, when they are drawn together, they form a 
channel known as esophageal groove and through which food 
can pass directly i»tto the third stomach, and thence into the 
fourth, without stopping in the first or second. At the entrance 
of the esophagus into the rumen are also numerous small, fleshy 
points or papiilse, which help to work the food to the place 
where it should go. 

Kow, when any ruminating animal feeds upon grass, hay or 
other coarse material, the food passes very rapidly and with very 
little mastication into the first stomach, where it becomes sat- 
urated and softened by the fluids supplied by that division, and 
also by the saliva which is secreted by the salivary glands and 
poured down the animal's throat, and by a sort of churning 
process, caused by the contracting and relaxing of the muscular 
walls of the stomach, it is prepared for the next step in the 
process of digestion. From the first stomach the food is grad- 
ually w^orked into the second, where it is worked into pellets or 
cuds and, by a peculiar spasmodic action, is thrown up by the 
reticulum, and grasped by the esophagus and returned to the 
mouth to be remasticated, when it is again swallowed, this time 
passing along the esophageal groove into the third stomach. 
This division is made up of numerous folds or leaves, between 



152 THE farmer's ready reference. 

which the semi-ground food passes, and again undergoes a tritu- 
rating or grinding process, and is then passed on to the fourth or 
true digestive stomach, where the process of digestion is easily 
completed. But should the food be more of the nature of chaft", 
or finely broken fodder, a great amount of it passes by the first 
and second stomachs into the third, where, if the food be of an 
especially dry and non-nutritive character, it becomes lodged 
between the manyplies, and not being saturated as it should be 
with the liquids from the first and second divisions, the fluid 
secreted by the third division alone is insufficient, and the result 
is an impaired condition of the stomach and the beginning of a 
case of impaction. Now, if this is allowed to go on day after day 
without change of food, the impaction increases, until finally the 
spaces between the manyplies become entirely filled up, leaving 
only a small channel through the lesser curvature of the stomach, 
along the edge of the manyplies, through which only food in a 
semi-fluid state can pass. The other divisions soon become 
aliected, through sympathy with this one, and there is complete 
suspension of the functions of the entire digestive tract. Then 
the sensory nerves soon begin to transmit the disordered sensa- 
tions to the brain, hence the train of nervous symptoms, so often 
seen in such cases. 

When the brain has once become seriously affected, I do not 
think any treatment can save the animal. But, if the case can 
be taken when the animal only appears stupid, with impaired 
appetite, it will pay to treat it. Give Epsom salts, from one to 
two pounds, according to size of animal, dissolved in half a gallon 
of warm water, with one pint of molasses added, and follow with 
two quarts of warm linseed tea, or thin gruel, every two hours, 
and injections of warm water per rectum, and moderate exercise 
occasionally. If the medicine does not operate in twenty-four 
hours, repeat the dose, and continue the other treatment as 



THE farmer's ready REFERENCE. 153 

before. But as our object in the beginning was to throw some 
light on the trouble in cornstalk f^-eding, we will proceed to that. 
It is a mystery to some why cattle will sometimes feed in one 
stalk field f<>r weeks without any loss, and then be changed to 
another, and soon begin to die rapidly. Also that they will be 
turned into a field and seem to do well for a week, and then 
suddenly the mortality will begin. And then again, we often 
hear, that of two neighbors living side by pide, one turns his 
cattle in the field and lets them remain there, with no loss what- 
ever; while the other turns liis in only a few hours at a time and 
tries to take every precaution against loss, as instructed by 
writers on the subject, yet his cattle will die as if a curse had 
been set upon them. This, we think will all be clear enough if 
we will note the difference in the condition of the fields. If the 
corn is of good, large growth and well matured, the danger is not 
very great. But if the stalks are small and not matured, the cob 
soft and spongy, the grains undeveloped, and the ears half cov- 
ered with smut; blades, stalks and all, bitten by the frost and 
then dried by the sun and wind until they are capable of being 
ground up fine enough by a few strokes of the jaw, so that when 
swallowed, the whole mass will pass at once into the third 
stomach, and, being very dry and of almost no nutritive value, 
finds lodgment there from day to day, until the stomach be- 
comes tilled to such an extent that no medicine will relieve It. 

A few good ears of corn may have been left in the field to be 
gathered by the cattle, and this will ward off the catastrophe 
for a few days, and thus account for their not dying when first 
turned in. In view of these facts, then, we should be able to 
form some idea of a preventive treatment. 

In the first place, the cattle should have free access to both 
salt and water, and should be driven to the latter every day, if 



154 THE farmer's ready reference. 

they do uot go of their own accord. They should never go into 
the stalks except with full stomachs; they should not be left in 
over an hour at a time, and after the first two days leave them 
out a day, and continue in this way two days in and the third 
day out for at least two weeks, and when they are out of the 
stalks do not turn them into an old dry field to go hungry till the 
time comes to go into the stalks again, but feed liberally on good 
hay or well cured, green-cut fodder, accompanied by corn, bran, 
oil-cake, sliced roots or anything else that will form a nutritious 
and laxative diet, and see that they eat it before they are again 
allowed to enter the stalk field, and they should still be fed a 
little grain of some kind, even after they have become accus- 
tomed to the stalks. If this method of feeding does not prove a 
complete remedy it will at least lower the death rate, and those 
that live will be all the better for having had the extra care." 



INDEX. 



PAOB. 

Ag-e of the Horse, How to tell 114 

Abortion, Infectious in Cows 146 

Apoplexy, Parturient in Cows 141 

Actinomycosis 133 

Aptha, Eruptive in Cattle 136 

Azoturia 50 

Anasarca 69 

Bronchitis 20 

Broken Wind 22 

Bleeding, Nasal 22 

Bots 35 

Bleeding- Fung-US in Horses 61 

Bleeding Fnngus in Cattle — 131 

Bone Spavin 86 

Bog Spavin 86 

Blind or Occult Spavin 88 

Bruises of the Feet 91 

Breeding 106 

Bladder, Inflammation of 49 

Bloating- 126 

Bloody Urine 50 

Blackleg 147 

Cornstalk Disease in Horses 36 

Cornstalk Disease in Cattle 149 

Cocked Ankles 97 

Castration 101 

At what Age to 101 

Season for 102 

Health of Animal for 103 

Operation of 103 

Bleeding after 105 

Swelling after 106 

Care of Mares 107 

Care of Foal 108 

Catarrh in Horses 17 

Catarrh in Cattle 122 

Choking in Horses 29 

Choking in Cattle 125 

Constipation in Horses 33 



156 INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Constipation in Cattle 127 

Capped Elbow T6 

Corns ,. 80 

Curb 88 

Capped Hock 89 

Canker 94 

Calks 95 

Contraction 97 

Callouses 73 

Calcareous Degeneration 7S 

Chronic Cough 26 

Colic, Flatulent 30 

Colic, Spasmodic 32 

Cerebro-Spinal Mening-itis 39 

Chorea 44 

Colt Distemper 17 

Congestion of the Lungs 23 

Disease, How to Recognize in Horses 11 

Disease, How to Recognize in Cattle 1 19 

Doses, Graduation of 14 

Doses, to Measure 14 

Distemper 1 17 

Diarrhcea in Horses 34 

Diarrhoea in Cattle 128 

Diabetes 51 

Dribbling of Urine 52 

Dislocations . . 98 

Depraved Appetite. 130 

Dysentery 34 

Eye, Injuries to. Cattle 131 

Contagious Ophthalmia, Cattle 133 

Simple Ophthalmia, Horse 59 

Specific Ophthalmia, Horse 60 

Puncture of Eyeball 59 

Torn Eyelids 62 

Eczema of the Skin 63 

Enteritis 33 

Epilepsy 35 

Erysipelas 48 

Epistaxis 22 

Fistula of the Withers 72 

Fractures 98 

Farcy Ill 

Founder, Acute 89 



mDEX. 157 



PAGE. 

Founder, Chronic 90 

Garget 142 

Gonorrhoea, in Horses ,..v 54 

Gonorrhoea, in Cattle -. 147 

Gravel 94 

Glanders ■, v 109 

Gastric Delirium . . ., 128 

Grease Heel , .^ .. 68 

Hipped 83 

Hj-drocele v . . ^ . 53 

Hen Lice ^.^......v 65 

Heaves 22 

Hydrothorax » ^ , * . * 25 

Heart, the 46 

Inversion of the Uterus •- ...v 42 

Introduction to Part First .. ...... 11 

Introduction to Part Second ^ 119 

Indigestion in Horses 30 

Indigestion in Cattle 127 

Indigestion, Chronic in Horses .:■■ 30 

Inflammation of the Bladder v 49 

Of the Testicles 53 

OftheWomb 56 

Ofthe Udder 56 

Of the Brain 38 

OfaVein 4? 

Ofthe Kidneys ^ 49 

Of the Lungs, Cattle 123 

Of the Lungs, Horses . . 23 

Inco-ordination of Movement .*...; 43 

Immobility • ^ 

Influenza — 19 



Knee Sprung 



Lumpy-jaw • 133 

Laryngitis > 20 

Lightning, Shocked by 40 

Locoism • Ill 

Lice 65 

Leucorrhoea 67 

Lymphangitis 69 

Lampas.... " •••» 29 



158 INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Lameness 74 

Knee joint 7T 

Pastern joint 79 

Elbow joint T7 

Melanotic Tumors 67 

Mange - — 67 

Medicines, How to Mix Tbem . 15 

How to Administer Them 12 

Care of 15 

Their Action in Cattle 119 

Mad Itch 144 

Megrims - 35 

Navicular Disease 82 

Nail Puncture 91 

Nasal Gleet 21 

Nursing and Feeding 12 

Open joint -•• 99 

Pleurisy, in Horses 25 

Pleurisy, in Cattle 124 

Purpura Hemorrhagica 26 

Peritonitis 33 

Paralysis - 42 

Paralysis, Parturient in Cattle • 140 

Placenta, Retention of 143 

Patella, Dislocation of 84 

Pumiced Foot 91 

Pneumonia in Horses 23 

Pneumonia in Cattle 123 

Pinkeye 13 

Phymosis - - 53 

Paraphymosis 53 

Perineum, Rupture of • 58 

PollEvil ■ 72 

Pulse, Horse's •• 11 

Pulse, Cattle...... • 120 

Parturition, in Cattle 139 

Prurigo • 63 

Quarter Crack - 79 

Quittor 92 

Rupture in Foals •• 108 

Roaring • 25 

Rheumatism 47 

Ringbone 96 



INBEX. 159 



PAGE. 

R^egpiration, Horse ^ n 

Respiration, Cattle . , , . . ^ ]^20 

Ring Worm, HorseS , . . . . , 63 

Ring Worm, Cattle (See Horses.) 

Summer Sores ^ ..;.v..k.s 64 

Scratches i ^ 67 

Swelling of the Sheath v 70 

Strangles ^ , 17 

Sweeny > i » » 73 

Splint I , , X..., 78 

Seedy Toe .,, ....,..., 81 

Sidebonea ■...., ^ 97 

Stringhalt , ., 44 

Shivering ^ ■. 44 

Sunstroke i ....... i ; 39 

Snakebites , I49 

Scirrhus Cord 106 

Sprain of Back Tendons gl 

Of Suspensory Ligament i 82 

Of Hip Joint w i 83 

OfStifleJoint : 85 

Of Flexor Metatarsi , 83 

Stifled ' 84 

Teeth 28 

Tongue , ■. 29 

Tetanus , 41 

Temperature, Horse 12 

Temperature, Cattle 120 

Toe Cracks 79 

Thoroughpin ... 87 

Thrush .; ,,, 93 

Tuberculosis 134 

Urticaria * 64 

Wolf Teeth 29 

Worms .i i, 38 

Warts, Ordinary 66 

Bleeding 66 

Wounds, Their Treatment 71 

WlndGalle 70 



DR. S. C. ORR, 

MANHATTAN, KANSAS, 

VETERINARY SURGEON and DENTIST. 

Graduate Ontario Veterinary College, Canada. 



VETERINARY EDITOR TO 

KANSAS FARflER, Topeka, Kansas. 
HOHE* FIELD and FORUM, Guthrie, Oklahoma. 
AMERICAN FARHER and FARM NEWS. Springfield, Ohio. 



Proprietor 



Dr. 0rr s UeberinarLj MsdiGipes 



All Diseases of Domesticated Animals Treated. Special At== 

tention Given to Castrating *«^Ridgeling" Horses 

(Cryptorchids) and Spaying Cows. Calls At=* 

tended to any Distance at Reasonable 

Rates. 

Board and Hospital 

Accommodations Furnished 

Patients at Moderate Rates. 

Parties at a distance not caring to incur the expense of a trip 
often write us to prescribe by mail. A long and varied ex- 
perience has enabled us to do this satisfactorily in cases 
Where a little delay is of no consequence. Write 
symptoms plainly; give age, sex, color, weight 

and breed of animal; enclose fee, $1.00, and 

a prompt reply will be given. Each additionaJ 

letter containing a prescription, 50 cents. When 

writing merely to ask questions, where no treatment is 

required, a stamp should be enclosed for reply. This is but a 

small matter to each individual, but amounts to dollars to us. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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